Is anyone listening? Mass and elite opinion cueing in the EU

The paper analyses the connections between elite and mass opinion in the European Union. It considers both the ways in which mass publics use heuristics supplied by political elites to form their EU opinions, and the ways in which political elites respond to the opinions of the mass publics they represent. The paper employs data from simultaneously-conducted elite and mass surveys carried out in sixteen European countries in 2007. The results show that masses and elites in Europe do appear to take cues from one another in forming their EU opinions. Political elites base their individual-level opinions on the average position taken by their respective (national) party supporters. Mass respondents base their opinions on the average position taken by elite members of the (national) party with which they identify.

► Headlines mass opinions are affected by the views of national party elites. ► Mass opinions are not affected by the views articulated by economic elites. ► Economic elites' views affect individual political elite attitudes. ► Political elites are affected only by the views of their own supporters. ► The EU conversation between elites and masses is not a ‘dialogue of the deaf’.