This book examines user perceptions of European Union institutions and compares them to perceptions communicators within these institutions have of their users. Analysing the images both sides have through their interaction on the EUROPA website (www.europa.eu) helps to to show where communicator intentions and user perceptions do or do not overlap. The timeliness of this issue could not be more striking than in the current internal and external debates surrounding the EU (e.g., the "No" votes on the common constitution). With this in mind, every possible way of interaction should be reconsidered, in order for citizens to get more involved and feel more connected. Next to mass media, the Internet plays an increasingly important role in people's lives. Even though the Internet may not currently be a dominant source of information about the RU relative to other mass media outlets, it continues to increase in importance as part of most people's everyday life, in particular for the younger generation who turn to it for information. The main focus of this book is on the integration of both the user and the communicator perspectives. By looking at user needs in comparison to the production processes that determine the information structure of a Web site, the usability of a Web site is defined. The user experience online in turn determines the users' perceptions of the institutions and their attitudes towards the European Union.

The EU has experienced serious economic and political crises such as the sovereign debt crisis and Brexit in the past few years. However, despite these issues, the EU has implemented considerable institutional, fiscal, and collective improvements during the unification process to continue as a significant actor in the global economy. The Handbook of Research on Social and Economic Development in the European Union provides a multidisciplinary evaluation of the institutional, economic, and social development of the European Union and makes inferences for the future dynamics and collaborations of the EU, the global economy, and other countries. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as energy security, gender discrimination, and global economics, this book is ideally designed for government officials, policymakers, world leaders, politicians, diplomats, international relations officers, economists, business professionals, historians, market analysts, academicians, researchers, and students concerned about the multifaceted integration processes surrounding the EU.

The IEA's International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) investigates the ways in which young people are prepared to undertake their roles as citizens in a range of countries in the second decade of the 21st century. ICCS 2016 is the second cycle of a study initiated in 2009. This report from ICCS focuses on data collected in the 15 countries that participated in the study's 2016 European regional questionnaire. It reveals lower secondary school students' views on European identity, their perceptions of freedom of movement and immigration, and their opinions of Europe and its future. It also, for the 12 European countries that participated in both ICCS 2009 and ICCS 2016, looks at changes across this time period, in young people's perceptions of immigration and European identity. Comparison with the complete international study will enable readers to review the extent to which region-specific perceptions are related to other factors, such as students' level of civic knowledge and social or educational contexts. Over the past 50 years, the IEA has conducted comparative research studies in a range of domains focusing on educational policies, practices, and outcomes in many countries around the world. The association conducted its first survey of civic education in 1971. The reliable comparative data collected by ICCS 2016 will allow education systems to evaluate the strengths of educational policies, both internationally and within a regional context, and to measure their progress toward achieving critical components of the United Nations' 2030 agenda for sustainable development.

Examines how the EU is perceived in the US; the Middle East; Russia; China; India; Brazil; South Africa; the World Bank; WTO; UN; Al Jazeera and International NGOs and explores the impact of these perceptions for the global role of the EU.

Integration in Europe has been a slow incremental process focusing largely on economic matters. Policy makers have tried to develop greater support for the European Union by such steps as creating pan-European political institutions. Yet significant opposition remains to policies such as the creation of a single currency. What explains continued support for the European Union as well as opposition among some to the loss of national control on some questions? Has the incremental process of integration and the development of institutions and symbols of a united Europe transformed public attitudes towards the European Union? In this book, Matthew Gabel probes the attitudes of the citizens of Europe toward the European Union. He argues that differences in attitudes toward integration are grounded in the different perceptions of how economic integration will affect individuals' economic welfare and how perceptions of economic welfare effect political attitudes. Basing his argument on Easton's idea that where affective support for institutions is low, citizens will base their support for institutions on their utilitarian appraisal of how well the institutions work for them, Gabel contends that in the European Union, citizens' appraisal of the impact of the Union on their individual welfare is crucial because their affective support is quite low. This book will be of interest to scholars studying European integration as well as scholars interested in the impact of public opinion on economic policymaking. Matthew Gabel is Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Kentucky.

Immigration tops the list of challenges of greatest concern to European Union citizens. Such movement of people pose major challenges for policymakers. EU countries must integrate immigrants while managing often distorted public perceptions of immigration. This Blueprint offers an in-depth study that contributes to the evidence base.

The Making of the European Union argues that the process of European integration has drifted into serious crisis, perhaps the most serious since the Danes voted against the Treaty of the European Union in 1992. Analysing the conditions for European integration, this book applies a citizens' or 'bottom-up' perspective on the integration process. The difficulties that the constitutional process has encountered illustrate the relevance of bringing public opinion into the analysis of the prospects for European integration. The book describes and analyses the historical, mental, intellectual , and attitudinal denominators of European integration, denominators that have shaped the processes so far and will continue to do so in the future. The authors apply a broad comparative perspective, where European nation-states constitute the primary units of analysis. The focus is on the foundations of European integration, public views about the EU, including various shades of Euroscepticism, and the long-term prospects of the EU. This book will appeal to a wide audience including scholars and researchers in the social sciences - particularly political science, comparative politics and European studies. The book will also be of great interest to journalists and all those involved in the EU, including policy makers and civil servants throughout the EU itself.