scholarly journals Tabloid Media Campaigns and Public Opinion: Quasi-Experimental Evidence on Euroscepticism in England

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
FLORIAN FOOS ◽  
DANIEL BISCHOF
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Media Influence ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Difference In Differences ◽  
Media Campaigns ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Effects Of Media ◽  
The Eu

Whether powerful media outlets have effects on public opinion has been at the heart of theoretical and empirical discussions about the media’s role in political life. Yet, the effects of media campaigns are difficult to study because citizens self-select into media consumption. Using a quasi-experiment—the 30-year boycott of the most important Eurosceptic tabloid newspaper, The Sun, in Merseyside caused by the Hillsborough soccer disaster—we identify the effects of The Sun boycott on attitudes toward leaving the EU. Difference-in-differences designs using public opinion data spanning three decades, supplemented by referendum results, show that the boycott caused EU attitudes to become more positive in treated areas. This effect is driven by cohorts socialized under the boycott and by working-class voters who stopped reading The Sun. Our findings have implications for our understanding of public opinion, media influence, and ways to counter such influence in contemporary democracies.

scholarly journals Tabloid media campaigns and public opinion: Quasi-experimental evidence on Euroscepticism in England

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florian Foos ◽  
Daniel Bischof
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Working Class ◽  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Media Influence ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Difference In Differences ◽  
Media Campaigns ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
The Eu

Whether powerful media outlets have consequential effects on public opinion has been at the heart of theoretical and empirical discussions about the media’s role in political life. The ef- fects of media campaigns are difficult to study because citizens self-select into media consump- tion. Using a quasi-experiment – the 30-years boycott of the most important Eurosceptic tabloid newspaper, “The Sun”, in Merseyside caused by the Hillsborough soccer disaster – we identify the effects of "The Sun" boycott on attitudes towards leaving the EU. Difference-in-differences designs leveraging public opinion data spanning three decades, supplemented by official refer- endum results, show that the boycott caused EU attitudes to become more positive in treated areas. This effect is driven by cohorts socialised under the boycott, and by working class voters who stopped reading "The Sun". Our findings have implications for our understanding of public opinion, media influence, and ways to counter such influence, in contemporary democracies.

scholarly journals Can EU Judicial Intervention Increase Polity Scepticism? Quasi-Experimental Evidence from Spain

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart James Turnbull-Dugarte ◽  
Daniel Devine
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Causal Effect ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Eu Integration ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
European Court ◽  
Take Back ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Perceived Challenge ◽  
The Eu

The mantra of “take back control” has become a staple of eurosceptics across the European Union. At the centre of the slogan’s message is a call to arms against the (perceived) challenge that EU membership represents for national sovereignty. In this paper, we theorise that supranational decisions taken by the European Court of Justice can increase ‘polity scepticism’ - increased opposition to the EU and decreased satisfaction with national democracy – by cueing citizens regarding the effects of EU integration on the perception of diluted sovereignty. Empirically, we leverage quasi-experimental evidence to support our theory, establishing that ECJ rulings have a significant causal effect on euroscepticism and dissatisfaction with democracy. The implications of our findings suggest that EU institutions seeking to ensure compliance with the rule of law and EU norms should proceed with caution. Interventionist action may backfire by increasing scrutiny of the EU’s legitimacy and undermining polity support.

Kicking Up a Fuss?

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine E. De Vries
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Real World ◽  
Political Sophistication ◽  
The Public ◽  
European Public ◽  
The Eu ◽  
The Way

This chapter demonstrates that public opinion towards the EU is highly responsive to changes in real-world conditions and moves in predictable ways. The analysis in the chapter combines natural experimental evidence with uniquely designed survey experimental evidence to show that support and scepticism react both to national and European events. This underlines the importance of the benchmark theory of European public opinion that this book presents. Moreover, the findings reported in this chapter support the intuition outlined in Chapter 2 that people are able to distinguish the policies a system provides from the way the system operates. Finally, the chapter shows that the public is responsive to changes in real-world conditions regardless of the level of political sophistication that individuals exhibit.

Executive Constraint and Sovereign Debt: Quasi-Experimental Evidence From Argentina During the Baring Crisis

2018 ◽  
Vol 51 (11) ◽  
pp. 1504-1525 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gary W. Cox ◽  
Sebastian M. Saiegh
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Sovereign Debt ◽  
Political Regime ◽  
Difference In Differences ◽  
Unit Of Analysis ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Executive Discretion ◽  
Individual Bond ◽  
The Individual

The literature on whether executive constraint improves the credibility of sovereign debt takes the political regime as the unit of analysis, typically computing an average yield or price for each regime, and then relating that average to regime characteristics. In this article, we take the individual bond issue as the unit of analysis, examining quasi-experimental evidence from two Argentine sovereign debts issued in the 1880s. The loans were sought by the same government and offered nearly identical terms to borrowers, except that one was funded and the other was unfunded. The loans sold at virtually the same price until the Baring crisis of November 16, 1890 erupted. Thereafter, their price histories diverged markedly. We analyze the market’s evolving valuation of the two loans before and after the Baring crisis using a difference-in-differences estimator and weekly price data. Our study shows that exposure to executive discretion strongly influences market assessments of value.

scholarly journals Analyzing Malaise and Mobilization: The Effects of Media on Political Support and European Identity in Old and New Member States

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 33-51
Author(s):  
Waqas Ejaz
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Political Support ◽  
European Identity ◽  
The Media ◽  
Recent Financial Crisis ◽  
Effects Of Media ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Eu

Abstract The recent financial crisis and the way it was handled by European Union (EU) received a great deal of media coverage, and since the media has a tendency to alter public opinion, it is safe to assume that it has affected some Europeans’ attitudes towards the EU. In order to test that assumption, a model was built around the theoretical framework of “media malaise,” and »political support«. It was found that the media certainly affected and shaped public opinion; however, study revealed that consuming media has not made people more cynical towards the EU. Based on secondary data analysis of Eurobarometer the study reveals positive relationship of media mobilization effect with European’s political attitudes and identity.

THE FAILURE TO SIGN THE UKRAINE-EU ASSOCIATION AGREEMENT (OCTOBER-NOVEMBER 2013)

2019 ◽  
pp. 30-45
Author(s):  
V. I. Denysenko
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
European Integration ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Main Role ◽  
Ruling Elite ◽  
Association Agreement ◽  
Russian President ◽  
The Government ◽  
Vladimir Putin ◽  
The Eu

The failure to sign the Association Agreement with the EU in autumn 2013 has been investigated. The role of the Russian factor, which became decisive in the foreign policy reversal of the Yanukovych regime, has been revealed. The importance of Viktor Yanukovych’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on October 27, 2013, in the dramatic change of Ukraine’s international vector has been emphasized. On the basis of diplomats’ memoirs, the assumption about intimidation of the Ukrainian President by the Russian side has been substantiated. The timeline of the preparation of the 2013 Vilnius Summit, the position of EU structures and the attempts of the fourth President of Ukraine to win time to trade with the Russians have been reproduced. The thesis about the Donetsk clan’s attempts to prepare public opinion for a 180 degree turn in late October - early November 2013 has been presented. For this purpose, demonstration meetings were organized with representatives of Ukrainian business and trade unions, who called for revision of plans for European integration on their own initiative. The main role in manipulating public opinion rested on the government of Mykola Azarov and the Verkhovna Rada, which had a majority coalition led by the Party of Regions. Instead, Viktor Yanukovych continued his European integration rhetoric and reiterated to Western partners his own willingness to sign the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU. On November 21, the real position of the ruling elite was made available to the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. According to it, the process of preparation for the signing of the Association Agreement was suspended, the proposal was made for the trilateral Ukraine-EU-Russia negotiations, and the ministries were tasked with developing measures to maintain economic ties with the CIS countries. The decision was rejected by European partners and led to Yanukovych’s attempts to find other ways to thwart the signing of the Agreement. It has been proved that this role was played by Yanukovych’s requirements for financial assistance from the EU amounting to about 160 billion euros, which aimed to prevent the signing of the Association Agreement. Key words: Viktor Yanukovych, association of Ukraine with the EU, эYulia Tymoshenko, European integration, Pat Cox, Alexander Kwasniewski, Vladimir Putin.

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