Segmentation of Public Perceptions on Romania's Accession to the EU

Abstract

European Union (EU) enlargement and integration generated intense debate almost
immediately following the first wave of discussion on expansion. Now
that the EU border has reached the line of the former Soviet states, the
topic is less hypothetical and more significant than ever, especially
because the entire EU project's success seems to depend heavily on
favorable public opinion. In Romania most of the quantitative measures
of public opinion on European issues, like those of the Eurobarometer
series, have been run since the beginning of the '90s. Yet, a study
concerned with measuring the individual, subjective opinions about EU
accession, as well as the formation of these opinions, was still much
needed. Q methodology is highly suitable for such an endeavor. As a
consequence, concourse statements about EU enlargement and integration
were gathered after qualitative discussions with individuals. A Q deck
of 46 statements was generated and administered to a sample of 170
individuals. Five factors emerged in the analysis, covering rather
surprising and often bleak attitudinal structures. Some of those
perceptions were identified as being part as a deeper cultural heritage
rooted in Romania's recent history. Some others should be attributed to
an often wrong and incoherent framing of the issues by the media and
politicians.