Europeanism and its Foreign Policy Attitude Correlates: A Political Belief System?

In: Cooperation and conflict: journal of the Nordic International Studies Association, Volume 10, Issue 3, p. 143-166

Abstract

The object of the paper is to analyse 'Europeanism', i.e. attitudes towards the European Communities in the total context of attitudes towards foreign policy issues in the Danish public, using data from two different surveys. First, the inner structure of Europeanism is analysed, and it is shown that attitudes towards European supranational integration had only a limited impact on attitudes towards the membership issue and on the referendum vote. Next, the position of Europeanism in a hypothesized foreign policy belief system consisting of internationalism, Europeanism, Atlanticism, Nordism and Universalism is reviewed. It is shown that these five orientations make up a mo derately constrained and balanced belief system, and that Europeanism seems to be one of its more central features. Another finding is a clear negative relationship between Europeanism and Nordism. Finally, some similarities and differences between the public's view of the world and the foreign policy belief systems of the political elite are discussed.