Interests, Identity and Political Allegiance in the European Union

textabstractIn this paper, we take up a question, which has a longstanding tradition within the field of European Union (EU) studies: What explains the variation in public support for European integration and/or the European Union? There are two dominant explanations of EU support: the utilitarian self-interest and the national identity perspectives. The former viewpoint stresses that citizens are more likely to support integration, if it results in a net benefit to the national economy or their own pocketbook. The latter perspective highlights the importance of feelings of national identity in shaping support for European integration. Drawing on the concept of (double) allegiance, we argue that there are theoretical reasons to combine the interest- and identity-based perspectives into one single explanatory framework. Support for supra-national institutions depends on the extent to which such institutions allow national political elites to provide security and well-being. The more citizens perceive that integration threatens their (economic, social-psychological and/or socio-economic) security and well-being, the less they are likely to support the EU. We find empirical evidence that interest- and identity-based explanations should indeed not be seen as alternative explanations, but as perspective that capture different sides of the same coin