Suchergebnisse

In this article, a comparison is made between economic and identity explanations of preferences toward EU membership in the Czech Republic. This research demonstrates that economics rather than identity is a more powerful explanation of public opinion on accession. With regard to economic explanations of public support for integration three models are examined - a winners and losers model, an international trade liberalisation model, and a foreign direct investment model. A comparison of these three models shows that support for accession was primarily based on attitudes toward foreign direct investment. Moreover, contemplating employment opportunities within the EU following accession was also an important factor. Contrary to previous research the empirical evidence presented in this article suggests that being a winner or loser in the post-communist transition process was not the strongest factor explaining popular support for membership. The results presented should not be taken to imply that instrumental rather than ideological or affect-based motivations determine general attitudes toward integration. On the specific question of vote choice in the accession referendum instrumental economic considerations were most important.

This study explores what factors help explain why some young people have more internal political efficacy (IPE) than others. IPE refers to subjective competence to understand politics and make informed choices. IPE is important because it has a strong positive association with many forms of political participation and also enhances the legitimacy of democratic regimes. Consequently, IPE forms part of the foundations of political equality. Using data from the Czech Republic and insights from personal information, social resource and social learning models (SLMs), this study shows that variation in youth IPE is most strongly linked with discussions among family, friends and classmates. In contrast to previous work, open classroom climate was not found to have a positive link with IPE, and Campbell's (2008, Political Behavior 30(4): 437–54) compensation hypothesis could not be accepted.

Fowler proposed a social learning model of voter turnout, and Bhatti and Hansen demonstrate that voter turnout among young (first-time) voters is highest among those living at home with their parents. Combining these theoretical and empirical results to a study of youth turnout, this article tests the hypothesis that the strongest determinant of attitudes towards turnout is parents' record of voting. The data used to test this hypothesis are a representative survey of Czech high school students aged 17–19 years, fielded in 2012. This study finds that the attitudes of youths who reside with their parents to turnout are strongly determined by their parents' example. Motivation also matters for voting, but the parental example is the most important determinant of turnout attitudes as a social learning model of turnout suggests.

In this article we examine the opinion structure of Irish Labour party members and supporters. Our purpose is to test May's law of curvilinear disparity by dividing party members into two groups as outlined by Kitschelt. By focusing on ideological differences within political parties Kitschelt identifies two types of members: ideologues and pragmatists. We use two individual-level data sets: the Labour Leadership Election Study (LLES) and the Irish National Election Study (INES), to test May's law. We find some limited support for May's law and Kitschelt's extensions to this model.