Why do individuals in Central and Eastern Europe support parties and candidates that hold restrictive positions on migration? I argue that the mobilization of public opinion against the European integration of external migration management is a cause. To test, I employ an experiment in Slovakia that combines a between-subjects experiment with a candidate-choice conjoint. Results indicate strong support for restrictive migration policies generally and that ideology moderates reactions to messages about European Union influence. In response to these messages, liberals shift toward restrictive policy preferences; conservatives do not. These differential effects suggest that messages about European Union influence run up against ceiling effects, where entrenched anti-migration preferences prevent attitudinal change. This paper identifies the limited set of conditions under which the mobilization of public opinion against European integration influences attitudes and electoral preferences.

More from our Archive

• DOI: 10.1177/00223433231185169 2023

  Organized violence 1989–2022, and the return of conflict between states

  Shawn Davies, Therése Pettersson, Magnus Öberg

• DOI: 10.1002/epa2.1184 2023

  Framing the benefits of European Union policy expansion on energy efficiency of buildings: A Swiss knife or a Trojan horse

  Fredrik von Malmborg, Martin Björklund, Johan Nordensvärd

• DOI: 10.1177/00223433231178848 2023

  Introducing the Mapping Attitudes, Perceptions and Support (MAPS) dataset on the Colombian peace process

  Michael Weintraub, Abbey Steele, Sebastián Pantoja-Barrios, Håvard Mokleiv Nygård, Marianne Dahl, Helga Malmin Binningsbø

• DOI: 10.14254/2071-8330.2023/16-2/14 2023

  Military spending and CO2 emissions: Empirical findings from countries with highest per capita military spending

  Waldemar Tarczyński, Łukasz Roman, Krzysztof Rejman, Raufhon Salahodjaev, Sardor Azam

• DOI: 10.14254/2071-8330.2023/16-2/10 2023

  From overtourism to no-tourism – costs and benefits of extreme volume of tourism traffic as perceived by inhabitants of two Polish destinations

  Michał Żemła, Adam R. Szromek

• DOI: 10.14254/2071-8330.2023/16-2/3 2023

  Business – education collaboration in R&D investment: Analysis of development gaps and critical points using MAR-splines

  Anastasiia Samoilikova, Jaroslaw Korpysa, Tetiana Vasylieva, Bálint Filep

• DOI: 10.1177/18681034231186632 2023

  Understanding the Unforeseen Consequences of an Incomplete Transitional Justice Ecology in the Philippines

  Tine Destrooper

• DOI: 10.1093/jhuman/huad024 2023

  Climate Change Litigation before the African Human Rights System: Prospects and Pitfalls

  Yusra Suedi, Marie Fall

• DOI: 10.1177/18681034231186441 2023

  Foreign Investment, State Capitalism, and National Development in Borneo: Rethinking Brunei–China Economic Relations

  Guanie Lim, Chang-Yau Hoon, Kaili Zhao

• DOI: 10.1111/jcms.13518 2023

  The Neglected Integration Crisis: France, Germany and Lacking European Co‐operation During the 1973/1974 Oil Shock

  Lucas Schramm