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The Dynamics of Transatlantic Relations: Elite and Public Opinion in Good and Bad Times

Elites
Foreign Policy
Public Opinion
Pierangelo Isernia
Università degli Studi di Siena
Pierangelo Isernia
Università degli Studi di Siena

Abstract

Transatlantic relations are a unique historical experiment of political, cultural and social change that has progressively turned a set of state afflicted by enduring rivalries into a pluralistic security community, as described by Karl Deutsch. In this paper I intend to explore a crucial aspect of this community: the mutual and cross-national dynamics between political elites and the general public in the Transatlantic area. The extent to which public and elites from one country take their cues from elites in other countries and vice-versa when it comes to transatlantic issues such as the use of force has not been explored so far (for a partial exception see Hayes and Guardino, 2011). The Transatlantic crisis of the period 2003-2008 and the subsequent Obama administration offer a unique opportunity to study this kind of dynamics in periods of high and low Transatlantic contestation. To do so, I will avail myself of a unique set of data, at both the elite and mass level, represented by the Transatlantic Trends Survey, surveying the general public in several European countries and the US between 2002 and 2014 and the European Elite Survey/Transatlantic Leadership Survey as well as the Transworld elite survey carried out between 2004 and 2014 in different years. Based on this data, I will explore the mutual relationships between public and elites on Transatlantic issues related to the use of force.