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Do Enlargements Make the European Union Less Cohesive? An Analysis of Trust between EU Nationalities *
Author(s) -
DELHEY JAN
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
jcms: journal of common market studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.54
H-Index - 90
eISSN - 1468-5965
pISSN - 0021-9886
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-5965.2007.00711.x
Subject(s) - eurobarometer , resizing , european union , prestige , cohesion (chemistry) , political science , member states , interpersonal communication , distrust , social psychology , psychology , international trade , economics , linguistics , philosophy , chemistry , organic chemistry , law
This article analyses the impact enlargements have had on the social cohesion of the European Union (EU), measured as generalized interpersonal trust between EU nationalities. Based on a quantitative‐dyadic approach, Eurobarometer surveys from 1976 to 1997 are utilized. The key result is that enlargements do not necessarily weaken cohesion, but southern enlargement and the recent eastern enlargement did. The integrative effect of enlargement depends on the extent to which acceding nations differ from existing club members in three main dimensions: the level of modernization (mechanisms: prestige), cultural characteristics (mechanisms: similarity) and their power in the international system (mechanisms: perceived threat).