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Institutional trust and multilevel government in the European Union: Congruence or compensation?

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  • Jordi Muñoz
  • Mariano Torcal
  • Eduard Bonet

Abstract

Does trust in national institutions foster or hinder trust in the institutions of the European Union (EU)? There is no agreement in the literature on popular support for the EU about the direction of the relationship between trust in national and European institutions. Some scholars argue that both will be positively related, others have proposed the opposite hypothesis: low levels of trust in national institutions will lead citizens to higher levels of support for the EU. We argue that both hypotheses are true but operate at different levels: whereas more trusting citizens tend to be so in both the national and the European arenas, we also find that at the country level the relationship is negative: living in a country with highly trusted and well-performing institutions hinders trust in the European Parliament. We test our hypotheses using data from the European Social Survey and Hierarchical Linear Modeling.

Suggested Citation

  • Jordi Muñoz & Mariano Torcal & Eduard Bonet, 2011. "Institutional trust and multilevel government in the European Union: Congruence or compensation?," European Union Politics, , vol. 12(4), pages 551-574, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:eeupol:v:12:y:2011:i:4:p:551-574
    DOI: 10.1177/1465116511419250
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Janssen, Joseph I. H., 1991. "Postmaterialism, Cognitive Mobilization and Public Support for European Integration," British Journal of Political Science, Cambridge University Press, vol. 21(4), pages 443-468, October.
    2. MARK FRANKLIN & MICHAEL MARSH & LAUREN McLAREN, 1994. "Uncorking the Bottle: Popular Opposition to European Unification in the Wake of Maastricht," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(4), pages 455-472, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Arnold, Christine, Eliyahu V. Sapir and Galina Zapryanova, 2012. "Trust in the institutions of the European Union: A cross-country examination," European Integration online Papers (EIoP), European Community Studies Association Austria (ECSA-A), vol. 16, February.
    2. Thyen, Kressen, 2018. "Why It Matters What We Do: Arab Citizens' Perceptions of the European Union after the 2011 Uprisings," GIGA Working Papers 312, GIGA German Institute of Global and Area Studies.

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