Mass Politicisation of the EU: Citizens’ Political Sophistication and Their EU Attitudes

Increasingly, Europe has become the target of mass mobilisation and party politicisation. On different occasions, such as referendums and elections, citizens have sanctioned the EU and the pro-European parties. It appears that society is more and more divided on the EU, a Eurosceptical front has emerged, and some parties make efforts to capitalise on the discontent of the public. In this context, the problem of citizens' political sophistication about the EU and how it interacts with support for European integration has been largely neglected by the literature. Are citizens knowledgeable and interested about the EU? Have they become more knowledgeable over time and better able to assess (and to contest) the pros and cons of the integration process? Is the recent wave of mass politicisation of the EU the result of increased political sophistication? For which aspects of EU attitudes is political sophistication more influential? Based on a longitudinal analysis of Eurobarometer data, we address these questions and connect levels of political sophistication among the public with patterns of EU politicisation within society. We show that political sophistication among the public can be an important driver of EU politicisation within society.