Once considered a purely elite-driven process far removed from the public, EU integration has become subject to mass politics in recent years. As a result, scholarly work on public opinion toward...Show moreOnce considered a purely elite-driven process far removed from the public, EU integration has become subject to mass politics in recent years. As a result, scholarly work on public opinion toward EU integration has expanded. While existing research has primarily centered on factors like identity, immigration stance, and economic interest to explain attitude variation, this paper highlights the underexplored role of personal values. Drawing on Schwartz’s theory of basic human values, it contends that individuals’ personal values significantly shape their attitudes toward EU integration. To mitigate cognitive dissonance, people align their actions and thoughts with the motivational goals prescribed by their personal values. Consequently, an individual’s stance on EU integration hinges on whether integration is conducive to the motivational objectives linked to their personal values. Conducting a cross-national study of 24 EU member states using data from the 9th round of the European Social Survey, the study finds mixed support for this argument. While human values generally influence attitudes toward EU integration, a noticeable discrepancy in impact magnitude between socially focused values (Conservation and Self-Transcendence) and personally focused values (Openness to Change and Self-Enhancement) emerges, with the latter exhibiting a diminished impact. Overall, the findings of this study support the idea that people rely on their personal values to make decisions and form attitudes on EU integration.Show less
In the last decade, several Eastern members of the European Union (EU) have regressed in their democratic quality. This ‘democratic backsliding’ has most notably occurred in Hungary where the...Show moreIn the last decade, several Eastern members of the European Union (EU) have regressed in their democratic quality. This ‘democratic backsliding’ has most notably occurred in Hungary where the populist government led by Viktor Orbán continues to infringe upon the liberal democratic values championed by the EU. As the Hungarian populist government employs a Eurosceptic narrative, its continued success in combination with the rather pro-EU population is puzzling. Applying a multidimensional framework of EU attitudes, this study conducts a quantitative analysis of public opinion to explain the aforementioned puzzle and gauge the impact Euroscepticism has on the continued success of populism. It is argued that the government uses the underlying dimensions of EU attitudes to varying extent to mobilise public support. The binary regression’s results show that popular EU attitudes are not a definitive predictor for populist support. Nonetheless, the findings illustrate that the continued success of the Hungarian government is attributable to nationalist sentiments in the unique post-communist context.Show less
This thesis analyzes and discusses the Japanese penal system and capital punishment, with its main focus being on the reasoning of the Japanese public to support the practice. It uses the works of...Show moreThis thesis analyzes and discusses the Japanese penal system and capital punishment, with its main focus being on the reasoning of the Japanese public to support the practice. It uses the works of Durkheim and Foucault as a theoretical framework and analyzes a public survey held among Japanese citizens in 2018 on the retention of the death penalty in order to shed more light on the reasons behind retention.Show less
This thesis has been done on the research question: what influence did U.S. public opinion have on the decisions made by the Johnson administration regarding U.S. foreign policy in Vietnam during...Show moreThis thesis has been done on the research question: what influence did U.S. public opinion have on the decisions made by the Johnson administration regarding U.S. foreign policy in Vietnam during and shortly after the Tet offensive (January 31, 1968 – March 31, 1968)? This research has been done through a literature analysis, including official documents. After this analysis, it became clear that the public did have an influence on the decisions to not send more troops to Vietnam, since it was mentioned many times in the official documents. However, this has been an indirect influence on state officials, who subsequently, chose to not send more troops to Vietnam, after the TET offensive.Show less
Bachelor thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (BSc)
open access
Berichtgevingen en beelden over de gebeurtenissen uit de wereld - iets wat we ‘het nieuws’ noemen - dat dagelijks op de televisie of in de kranten verschijnt, doorlopen net als ieder ander product...Show moreBerichtgevingen en beelden over de gebeurtenissen uit de wereld - iets wat we ‘het nieuws’ noemen - dat dagelijks op de televisie of in de kranten verschijnt, doorlopen net als ieder ander product een proces door. Tijdens dit ‘productieproces’ komen verschillende sociale actoren in aanmerking, die allen bepalen en invloed hebben op welke informatie en beelden er tijdens het achtuurjournaal op de buis verschijnen. In deze literatuurstudie tracht ik deze achterliggende processen van beeldvorming in de media te onderzoeken, door middel van een analyse naar de producenten van het nieuws, de vorming van publieke opinie en de transformatie van beelden tot iconen.Show less
The expression of public opinion varies depending on the issue. This variation could be linked to highly salient issues. We argue that public opinion will be more involved in the case of highly...Show moreThe expression of public opinion varies depending on the issue. This variation could be linked to highly salient issues. We argue that public opinion will be more involved in the case of highly salient issues. In such circumstances, it would be interesting to examine if a higher saliency leads to a more accountable government. While some scholars link foreign policy with domestic debate, few of them link accountability with saliency as a means to verify the importance of domestic factors. Therefore, we will add new elements to the existing literature by focusing on this link. The question guiding our research will try to confirm that governments give more account when facing a salient issue within public opinion. Our question is the following: Does the high salience of a foreign policy issue have an influence on the extent of account-giving by democratic governments to citizens?Show less
