If you'd like to print out this page, click the Print button above. Alternatively, you may click the printer icon on your browser's toolbar, or choose File>Print from the menu.     Globalization in Comparative Politics 2 One reaction some societies have had to international phenomena, including globalization, has been economic and political integration. Prominent regional organizations have developed in recent decades, including the European Union (EU) and NAFTA, to mention just a couple examples. It is often hoped that forming a larger entity will help the member states both to maximize their social, economic, and political interests, and to increase their influence on global affairs. Let’s focus our attention on the EU, beginning with an exploration of its membership and growth over time. CLICK DATA FILE: GLOBAL04 CLICK TASK: Mapping SELECT VARIABLE 1: EU-MEMBERS CLICK VIEW: Map CLICK: [Continue] 1. How many countries are members of the European Union? (Correct Answer: 25) 2. How many countries have achieved candidate status for the European Union? (Correct Answer: three) 3. True or False: The member and candidate states of the European Union are located exclusively in West Europe. (Correct Answer: False) CLICK: DATA FILES CLICK DATA FILE: TRENDS CLICK TASK: Historical Trends SELECT VARIABLE 1: EU MEMBERS CLICK: [Continue] 4. In which decade was the European Union founded? (Correct Answer: 1950s) 5. In which year did the European Union add the most members? (Correct Answer: 2004) 6. True or False: European Union membership declined in the 1970s before increasing again in the 1990s. (Correct Answer: False) One of the factors that helped persuade European leaders to develop the European Union was that it would increase their ability to exercise a strong role globally, and challenge the leadership of the Great Powers, in general, and the United States, in particular. Some of the key determinants of power include land area, population, gross domestic product (GDP), and the size of the military. Let’s examine the most powerful European countries along these dimensions, and compare them to the United States to provide a sense of the relative influence of "Europe" before and, at least potentially, after integration. CLICK: DATA FILES CLICK DATA FILE: GLOBAL04 CLICK TASK: Mapping SELECT VARIABLE 1: AREA CLICK VIEW: Rank Table CLICK: [Continue] 7. Which EU country has the most land area? (Correct Answer: France) 8. The United States has 3,539,227 square miles. How much land area is possessed by the largest EU country? (Correct Answer: 210,668 square miles) CLICK: VARIABLES SELECT VARIABLE 1: POPULATION CLICK VIEW: Rank Table CLICK: [Continue] 9. Which EU country has the largest population? (Correct Answer: Germany) 10. The United States has 275 million people. What is the population of the largest EU country? (Correct Answer: About 83 million, or 82,797,000 people) CLICK: VARIABLES SELECT VARIABLE 1: GDP CLICK VIEW: Rank Table CLICK: [Continue] 11. Which EU country has the largest GDP? (Correct Answer: Germany) 12. The United States has a GDP of $9.26 trillion. What is the GDP of the largest EU country? (Correct Answer: $1,860 billion, or $1.86 trillion) CLICK: VARIABLES SELECT VARIABLE 1: MILITARY CLICK VIEW: Rank Table CLICK: [Continue] 13. Which EU country has the largest number of soldiers? (Correct Answer: France) 14. The United States has about 1.5 million soldiers. How many soldiers are in the largest EU country? (Correct Answer: 399,000) 15. True or False: Based on the measures you have examined, it is clear that no single member of the European Union is as powerful as the United States. (Correct Answer: True) Now let’s explore the potential power that the European Union countries have together and compare it to several other countries that are among those usually identified as "Great Powers." CLICK: DATA FILES CLICK DATA FILE: EUROPEAN UNION CLICK TASK: Univariate SELECT PRIMARY VARIABLE: AREA CLICK: [Continue] 16. What percent of the world’s land area is located in the European Union? (Correct Answer: 3 percent) 17. Identify the potential "Great Powers" on the list (excluding "other") that are smaller than the European Union. (Correct Answer: India and Japan) CLICK: VARIABLES SELECT PRIMARY VARIABLE: POPULATION CLICK: [Continue] 18. What is the total population of the European Union? (Correct Answer: 453 million) 19. Identify the potential "Great Powers" on the list (excluding "other"), that are smaller than the European Union. (Correct Answer: Japan, Russia, and the United States) 20. True or False: The European Union has nearly 180 million more people than the United States. (Correct Answer: True) CLICK: VARIABLES SELECT PRIMARY VARIABLE: GDP CLICK: [Continue] 21. What percent of the world’s GDP is earned by the European Union? (Correct Answer: 21 percent) 22. True or False: The European Union share of world GDP is nearly equal to the share of GDP earned by the United States. (Correct Answer: True) 23. Identify the potential "Great Powers" on the list (excluding "other"), having smaller GDPs than the European Union. (Correct Answer: China, India, Japan, and Russia) CLICK VARIABLES CLICK TASK: Univariate SELECT PRIMARY VARIABLE: MILITARY CLICK: [Continue] 24. Identify the potential "Great Powers" on the list (excluding "other"), having fewer soldiers in their militaries than the European Union. (Correct Answer: India, Japan, Russia, and the United States) 25. Based on your observations, do you believe the European Union is positioned to challenge effectively the "Great Powers" of the world? Briefly explain your reasoning. Now let’s turn our attention to some key concerns related to integration, specifically, how the citizens feel about the institutional arrangements that are being built, and how strongly they support and participate in the political processes. Important controversies have arisen within the EU over several important issues. Let’s explore some of these, beginning with the question of whether or not citizens view membership in the EU as desirable. CLICK: DATA FILES CLICK DATA FILE: TRENDS CLICK TASK: Historical Trends SELECT VARIABLE 1: MEMB-GOOD SELECT VARIABLE 2: MEMB-BAD CLICK: [Continue] 26. True or False: In a typical year, fewer than 30 percent of EU citizens view membership as a "good" thing. (Correct Answer: False) 27. In which year did the largest percentage of EU citizens view membership as a "bad" thing? (Correct Answer: 2004) Now let’s examine the issue of expansion to include new members. CLICK: DATA FILES CLICK DATA FILE: SHARES CLICK TASK: Univariate SELECT PRIMARY VARIABLE: EU-EXPAN CLICK: [Continue] 28. What percent of EU citizens, overall, are in favor of enlargement? (Correct Answer: 42 percent) 29. What percent of EU citizens, overall, are opposed to enlargement? (Correct Answer: 39 percent) CLICK: DATA FILES CLICK DATA FILE: GLOBAL04 CLICK TASK: Mapping SELECT VARIABLE 1: ENLARG-FAV CLICK VIEW: Rank Table CLICK: [Continue] 30. What is the range of support for enlargement (i.e., lowest and highest levels of support)? (Correct Answer: 28 to 66 percent) 31. True or False: In more than half of these countries, fewer than 50 percent of citizens support enlargment. (Correct Answer: True) CLICK: VARIABLES SELECT VARIABLE 1: ENLARG-OPP CLICK VIEW: Rank Table CLICK: [Continue] 32. What is the range of opposition to enlargement (i.e., lowest and highest levels of support)? (Correct Answer: 18 to 56 percent) CLICK: BACK (use your browser’s back button) SELECT VARIABLE 1: ENLARG-OPP CLICK VIEW: Map CLICK: [Continue] 33. Can you identify any patterns related to the countries with the most citizens opposed to enlargement? (Correct Answer: They are all clustered together; or they tend to be closest, geographically to the new members; or they are mainly the German-speaking countries of Europe) Another issue that has generated controversy within the European Union is the adoption of a common currency, the Euro, which is in circulation in twelve member states. Let’s explore attitudes about the Euro. CLICK: DATA FILES CLICK DATA FILE: SHARES CLICK TASK: Univariate SELECT PRIMARY VARIABLE: EURO CLICK: [Continue] 34. What percent of EU citizens favor the Euro? (Correct Answer: 59 percent) One of the goals of the European Union has been the adoption of a common defense and security policy. Let’s explore citizen attitudes towards this. CLICK: VARIABLES SELECT PRIMARY VARIABLE: EU-DEFENSE CLICK: [Continue] 35. What percent of EU citizens favor a common defense and security policy? (Correct Answer: 72 percent) CLICK: DATA FILES CLICK DATA FILE: GLOBAL04 CLICK TASK: Mapping SELECT VARIABLE: EU-DEFENSE CLICK VIEW: Map CLICK: [Continue] 36. True or False: A majority of citizens in every European Union country favors a common defense and security policy. (Correct Answer: True) There has also been considerable debate within European Union countries over the possible adoption of a constitution, something that has been discussed seriously by policymakers for several years. Let’s explore public attitudes related to this. CLICK: DATA FILES CLICK DATA FILE: SHARES CLICK TASK: Univariate SELECT PRIMARY VARIABLE: EU-CONST CLICK: [Continue] 37. True or False: A majority of European Union citizens favor the adoption of a European Union constitution. (Correct Answer: True) 38. What percent of EU citizens either are opposed to a constitution or don’t know? (Correct Answer: 37 percent) A significant controversy has also arisen regarding whether or not the European Union’s political institutions (i.e., the Commission, the Council, and the Parliament) function effectively to protect the common good. Let’s explore how citizens feel about the Parliament. CLICK: VARIABLES SELECT PRIMARY VARIABLE: EU-PARL CLICK: [Continue] 39. What percent of EU citizens believe that the members of Parliament are good at protecting their interests? (Correct Answer: 37 percent) 40. True or False: A majority of EU believe that the members of Parliament do a poor job of protecting their interests. (Correct Answer: False) A final controversy that we’ll examine is in regard to citizen participation in the political processes of the European Union. Let’s explore attitudes towards Parliamentary elections, and actual turnout. CLICK: VARIABLES SELECT PRIMARY VARIABLE: ELECT-IMP CLICK: [Continue] 41. What percent of EU citizens believe that European Parliament elections are "really important?" (Correct Answer: 66 percent) CLICK: DATA FILES CLICK TRENDS CLICK TASK: Historical Trends SELECT VARIABLE 1: EU-TURNOUT CLICK: [Continue] 42. What percent of EU citizens voted in the 1979 European Parliament elections? (Correct Answer: 63 percent) 43. What percent of EU citizens voted in the 2004 European Parliament elections? (Correct Answer: 45.5 percent or ~45%) 44. True or False: Voter turnout has declined in every European Parliament election since 1979. (Correct Answer: True) 45. The European Union formed as a result of both domestic and international considerations including, but not limited to, globalization. It is clear that European integration has made significant progress in recent decades but not, as you observed, without a mixture of both concern and support from its citizens. Based on your observations, do you believe European integration is likely to succeed as a strategy to deal with globalization in the long term? Be sure to discuss briefly your reasoning.