Premium
A Question of Culture or Economics? Public Attitudes to the European Union in Britain
Author(s) -
Curtice John
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the political quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.373
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1467-923X
pISSN - 0032-3179
DOI - 10.1111/1467-923x.12250
Subject(s) - referendum , european union , skepticism , political science , political economy , public opinion , european social survey , sociology , law , economics , economic policy , politics , philosophy , epistemology
Previous research has suggested that attitudes towards the European Union ( EU ) are shaped by two sets of considerations—economic and cultural. Using data from the 2015 British Social Attitudes survey, this article assesses which matters more in shaping attitudes in Britain towards the EU as the country prepares to vote in a referendum on whether it should remain in or leave the European Union. It shows that while concern about the cultural consequences of EU membership is widespread, voters are inclined to think that membership is economically beneficial. This cultural concern underpins a widespread scepticism about Europe, but voters are only likely to want to leave the EU if they are also convinced of the economic case for doing so.