Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• SØRENSEN, CARSTEN LEHMANN

Titel

Danish Elite Attitudes Towards European Integration

Ist Teil von

• Cooperation and conflict, 1976-11, Vol.11 (4), p.259-278

Ort / Verlag

London, England: Universitetsforlaget

Erscheinungsjahr

1976

Quelle

Alma/SFX Local Collection

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• During the months preceding the Danish EC referendum in 1972, 90 persons constituting the very top of the political elite were interviewed. Categorized in four subelites – the parliamentary, administrative, organization and communications elites – this highest layer of the Danish political system is portrayed with respect to social background and other potentially important characteristics. Elite attitudes towards EC membership and European integration in general showed a pro-European consensus motivated by economic considerations. Social and political integration were also viewed with sympathy, provided the extent of social integration remained limited, and provided political integration excluded security policy. Only elite attitudes towards the supranational EC institutions revealed cleavages and ambiguity. More than anything else, Danish elite attitudes seemed to be determined by a small state's overall dependence on the surrounding European system both in an economic and political sense.