East European Public Support for NATO Membership: Fears and Aspirations
A defining characteristic of democratic regimes is that they depend on widespread popular approval of domestic and foreign policy choices made by their elites. This article examines the sources of East European public support for NATO membership. It argues that citizens' attitudes in favor of p...
Published in: | Journal of Peace Research |
---|---|
Main Author: | |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
SAGE Publications
2000
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0022343300037002007 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0022343300037002007 |
id |
crsagepubl:10.1177/0022343300037002007 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
crsagepubl:10.1177/0022343300037002007 2024-10-13T14:09:27+00:00 East European Public Support for NATO Membership: Fears and Aspirations Kostadinova, Tatiana 2000 http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0022343300037002007 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0022343300037002007 en eng SAGE Publications https://journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license Journal of Peace Research volume 37, issue 2, page 235-249 ISSN 0022-3433 1460-3578 journal-article 2000 crsagepubl https://doi.org/10.1177/0022343300037002007 2024-09-17T04:38:56Z A defining characteristic of democratic regimes is that they depend on widespread popular approval of domestic and foreign policy choices made by their elites. This article examines the sources of East European public support for NATO membership. It argues that citizens' attitudes in favor of participation in the North Atlantic defense system are affected, at the individual level, by their own values and characteristics, and at the aggregate level, by the national past experience and the domestic political context. The hypothesized effects of micro- and macro-level factors are tested through logistic regression analysis of data from the 1995 Central and East European Barometer Survey. The results suggest that perceptions of threat from Russia developed in nations occupied by the Soviet Union at the beginning of World War II and the ex-Communists' access to government are factors which mould public opinion and explain differences across countries. Pro-integration and pro-market attitudes emerge as influential determinants of NATO approval which account for the variation observed between individuals. These findings and their theoretical and practical implications are discussed in the context of the recent eastward expansion of NATO and the Kosovo crisis, demonstrating the need to study the dynamics in East European popular appreciation of foreign policy choices over time. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic SAGE Publications Journal of Peace Research 37 2 235 249 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
SAGE Publications |
op_collection_id |
crsagepubl |
language |
English |
description |
A defining characteristic of democratic regimes is that they depend on widespread popular approval of domestic and foreign policy choices made by their elites. This article examines the sources of East European public support for NATO membership. It argues that citizens' attitudes in favor of participation in the North Atlantic defense system are affected, at the individual level, by their own values and characteristics, and at the aggregate level, by the national past experience and the domestic political context. The hypothesized effects of micro- and macro-level factors are tested through logistic regression analysis of data from the 1995 Central and East European Barometer Survey. The results suggest that perceptions of threat from Russia developed in nations occupied by the Soviet Union at the beginning of World War II and the ex-Communists' access to government are factors which mould public opinion and explain differences across countries. Pro-integration and pro-market attitudes emerge as influential determinants of NATO approval which account for the variation observed between individuals. These findings and their theoretical and practical implications are discussed in the context of the recent eastward expansion of NATO and the Kosovo crisis, demonstrating the need to study the dynamics in East European popular appreciation of foreign policy choices over time. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Kostadinova, Tatiana |
spellingShingle |
Kostadinova, Tatiana East European Public Support for NATO Membership: Fears and Aspirations |
author_facet |
Kostadinova, Tatiana |
author_sort |
Kostadinova, Tatiana |
title |
East European Public Support for NATO Membership: Fears and Aspirations |
title_short |
East European Public Support for NATO Membership: Fears and Aspirations |
title_full |
East European Public Support for NATO Membership: Fears and Aspirations |
title_fullStr |
East European Public Support for NATO Membership: Fears and Aspirations |
title_full_unstemmed |
East European Public Support for NATO Membership: Fears and Aspirations |
title_sort |
east european public support for nato membership: fears and aspirations |
publisher |
SAGE Publications |
publishDate |
2000 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0022343300037002007 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0022343300037002007 |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
Journal of Peace Research volume 37, issue 2, page 235-249 ISSN 0022-3433 1460-3578 |
op_rights |
https://journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1177/0022343300037002007 |
container_title |
Journal of Peace Research |
container_volume |
37 |
container_issue |
2 |
container_start_page |
235 |
op_container_end_page |
249 |
_version_ |
1812816435626377216 |