respond concerning whether they to the institution, instead responding “don’t know” “tend trust” negatively. Those who did not know the institutions but did trust them were almost negligible, though the European Parliament fared somewhat better in this circumstance at 16%, presumably because respondents were familiar with the in a national context. The term “parliament” relationship between knowledge and trust deficits suggests the importance of working to correct gaps in understanding. In doing so, people would not only become more knowledgeable, but they would also become more trusting. Conversely, while citizens continue to know very little about Brussels, any sort of trust-based messaging will likely be ineffective. Alternatively, many critics consider European trust deficits to be inevitable as long as the European economy remains weak. But it is inaccurate to assume that citizens automatically lose faith in the EU or its institutions following unfortunate events, as we can see by examining public opinion following the 2009 eurocrisis. Currently, 46% of Europeans are dissatisfied with way democracy works in the while 43% are satisfied. This measure has grown “the EU,” increasingly negative since peaking at 54% approval and 32% disapproval in late 2009, several months into the crisis. This is contrasted with the way democracy works in satisfaction “with which revealed 53% satisfaction and 45% dissatisfaction following the (OUR COUNTRY),” 2009 economic collapse significantly worse than the EU measure, and a dramatic drop from – the pre-crisis measures of 58% satisfaction and 39% dissatisfaction. Whereas national governments suffered a large drop in democratic legitimacy following the 2009 crisis 58% to – 53% satisfaction and 39% to 45% dissatisfaction the measures actually rose. This – EU’s indicates that distrust of European democracy is not a function of economic troubles being automatically blamed on faults of the EU, but instead of understanding or citizens’ misunderstanding of how the crisis was handled at the European level. In fact, Europeans who
respond “don’t know” concerning whether they “tend to trust” the institution, instead responding negatively. Those who did not know the institutions but did trust them were almost negligible, though the European Parliament fared somewhat better in this circumstance at 16%, presumably because respondents were familiar with the term “parliament” in a national context. The relationship between knowledge and trust deficits suggests the importance of working to correct gaps in understanding. In doing so, people would not only become more knowledgeable, but they would also become more trusting. Conversely, while citizens continue to know very little about Brussels, any sort of trust-based messaging will likely be ineffective. Alternatively, many critics consider European trust deficits to be inevitable as long as the European economy remains weak. But it is inaccurate to assume that citizens automatically lose faith in the EU or its institutions following unfortunate events, as we can see by examining public opinion following the 2009 eurocrisis. Currently, 46% of Europeans are dissatisfied with “the way democracy works in the EU,” while 43% are satisfied. This measure has grown increasingly negative since peaking at 54% approval and 32% disapproval in late 2009, several months into the crisis. This is contrasted with satisfaction “with the way democracy works in (OUR COUNTRY),” which revealed 53% satisfaction and 45% dissatisfaction following the 2009 economic collapse – significantly worse than the EU measure, and a dramatic drop from the pre-crisis measures of 58% satisfaction and 39% dissatisfaction. Whereas national governments suffered a large drop in democratic legitimacy following the 2009 crisis – 58% to 53% satisfaction and 39% to 45% dissatisfaction – the EU’s measures actually rose. This indicates that distrust of European democracy is not a function of economic troubles being automatically blamed on faults of the EU, but instead of citizens’ understanding or misunderstanding of how the crisis was handled at the European level. In fact, Europeans who
Public%20Diplomacy%20and%20Democratic%20Legitimacy%20in%20the%20European%20Union,%20Henrietta%20Levin.docx