Sharon Baute

Bio: Sharon Baute is an academic researcher from University of Amsterdam. The author has contributed to research in topics: Solidarity & European union. The author has an hindex of 4, co-authored 10 publications receiving 79 citations. Previous affiliations of Sharon Baute include Ghent University & Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.

Public support for European solidarity: Between Euroscepticism and EU agenda preferences?

Abstract: This article investigates public support for two types of EU‐wide solidarity that currently exist, namely member state solidarity (such as transfers to less developed and crisis‐hit countries) and transnational solidarity (such as granting cross‐border social rights to EU citizens). Drawing on data from the 2014 Belgian National Election Study, we find that opposition towards European integration – in particular regarding EU enlargement – reduces citizens' willingness to support European solidarity to a large extent. However, this article reveals that public support for European solidarity cannot simply be reduced to a pro‐versus anti‐integration, nor to a domestic left–right conflict. Citizens' substantive positions towards the EU's social and economic agenda are a crucial element in understanding contestation over European integration issues.

Measuring attitudes towards social Europe: A multidimensional approach

Abstract: Although the notion of ‘Social Europe’ can refer to different principles and policy options, most research narrows down attitudes towards Social Europe to a unidimensional construct. In this study, we instead propose a multi-dimensional approach, and contribute to the literature in three ways. First, we elaborate the notion of ‘Social Europe’ conceptually, and distinguish between the decision-making level for social policy, European social citizenship, harmonization, member-state solidarity and interpersonal solidarity. Second, analysing the 2014 Belgian National Election Study by means of confirmatory factor analysis we evidence that citizens indeed have distinct attitudes towards the policy principles and instruments of Social Europe. Although these attitudinal dimensions are interrelated, they cannot be reduced to a single Social Europe factor, meaning that citizens differentiate in their attitudes between various aspects of Social Europe. In addition, our research indicates that member-state solidarity is the primary aspect of Social Europe in public opinion, whereas the feature that has received most scholarly attention in empirical research to date—the preferred decision-making level for social policy—cannot be considered as a key component of attitudes towards Social Europe. Third, we investigate whether citizens with different educational levels conceptualize Social Europe similarly using multigroup confirmatory factor analysis. Results indicate that the attitudinal factor structure of Social Europe is largely equivalent among lower and higher-educated citizens.

European integration as a threat to social security: Another source of Euroscepticism?:

Abstract: This study investigates whether citizens' concerns about the EU's impact on social security are a distinct source of Euroscepticism. By analysing data from the European Values Study 2008, we show that citizens differentiate between domain-specific fears about European integration (i.e. about social security, national sovereignty, culture, payments and jobs), meaning that they cannot be reduced completely to a general fear about European integration. Furthermore, socioeconomic determinants and ideological position are more important in explaining citizens' fear about the EU's impact on social security than in explaining their generalised fear of European integration. In countries with higher social spending, citizens are more fearful of European integration in general, however, social spending does not affect fears about social security more strongly than it affects other EU-related fears.

Welfare state attitudes and support for social Europe: Spillover or obstacle?

Abstract: This study investigates how support for Social Europe is related to citizens’ welfare attitudes. On the one hand, welfare attitudes can spill over from the national to the European level, given that Social Europe aims to achieve similar goals to those of national welfare states. On the other hand, support for the welfare state can be an obstacle, if citizens perceive the nation state and the European Union as competing or substituting governance levels. Using data from the 2014 Belgian National Election Study, we take a multidimensional approach to Social Europe, capturing attitudes toward social regulations, member state solidarity, European social citizenship, and a European social security system. Results demonstrate that citizens who are more positive about the welfare state are also more supportive of Social Europe. However, positive welfare attitudes do not affect all dimensions of Social Europe to the same extent. The spillover effect of support for basic welfare state principles is strongest for policy instruments of Social Europe that are less intrusive to national welfare states (EU social regulations). By contrast, welfare state critique has a stronger impact on support for more intrusive instruments (European social citizenship).

Public attitudes towards a European minimum income benefit : How (perceived) welfare state performance and expectations shape popular support

Abstract: The economic crisis and the unequal degree to which it has affected European Union (EU) member states have fuelled the debate on whether the EU should take responsibility for the living standards o...

Internet, phone, mail and mixed-mode surveys: the tailored design method: reseña

Abstract: Resena de la obra de Don A. Dillman, Jolene D. Smyth y Leah Melani Christian: Internet, Phone, Mail and Mixed-Mode Surveys. The Tailored Design Method. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons

On the european union

Abstract: The extent to which member states transpose EU directives in a timely fashion is often argued to be strongly associated with the general effectiveness of national bureaucracies. But what kind of institutional solutions ensure better performance? This paper examines the patterns and effects of departmental oversight across 28 ministries in Estonia, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia. In mapping the strength of oversight, it relies on around 90 structured interviews regarding the rules-in-use on transposition planning, legal review and monitoring of deadlines. The analysis of the impact of departmental oversight is based on an original dataset of over 300 directives with transposition deadlines between January 2005 and December 2008.

福利国家研究的指南针与工具箱——评The Oxford Handbook of the Welfare State

Abstract: 2010年8月，历时近四年完成的The Oxford Handbookofthe Welfare State上市开售，定位于“权威”与“经典”。该书由全球福利国家研究领域的72位知名学者撰稿，试图系统、全面、深入地回顾福利国家研究各主要领域的已有成果，并为未来的研究提供方向和方法指导。二战以来，西方福利国家的迅速扩张、艰难紧缩以及新近为应对“新风险”的调适性改革，一直是政治哲学、经济学、社会学以及社会政策研究的热点问题，然而，系统、科学地整合各学科的研究成果的学术著作比较少见，而超越福利国家研究中的“欧洲中心”的倾向，采用“全球”“比较视野”的分析视角更不多见。

Poor versus rich countries: A gap in public attitudes towards fiscal solidarity in the EU

Abstract: Existing research has primarily focused on the role of utility and identity in shaping individuals’ European Union (EU) preferences. This article argues that macroeconomic context is a crucial pred...