Source: McLaren, L. M. 2002. "Public support for the European Union: Cost/benefit analysis or
perceived cultural threat?" Journal of Politics 64 (2):551-66.


What does the figure tell us?

Source: Magalhaes, Pedro (2012). The Scope of Government of the European Union: Explaining
Citizens' Support for a More Powerful EU. In Sanders et al. Europeanization of National Polities.
Oxford University Press: Oxford, p. 126.


In this study, the author explores how various independent variables are related to support for the
EU. He looks at two dependent variables:

·        current scope of the EU (survey respondents indicate how many policy areas should be dealt
with at the EU level)

·        future scope of the EU (respondents indicate how many policy areas should be dealt with at
the EU level in 10-years time)

Figure 6.1 shows how strongly each independent variable affects the dependent variables (greater
number shows stronger effect). Explain what the figure tells us. Which variables have the greatest
effect?

[Note: "National political institutions" means trust in national political institutions]