Public support for the European Parliament

The study of the European Parliament (EP) is motivated in large part by its central role in the democratic legitimacy of the European Union (EU). Public support for the EP is important to this legitimacy. At a fundamental level, a parliament designed to represent citizens ought to enjoy public respect and support and, in this study, I examine whether EU citizens vary systematically in their support for the EP. Based on regression analysis of Eurobarometer survey data, I demonstrate that EU citizens differ in their support for the EP based on their considerations of the current scope of EU governance, their appraisal of EU membership, their sense of European political identity, and their level of satisfaction with national democracy. These results have implications for how institutional reforms may shape public support for and the legitimacy of the EU.