The solidaristic turn in public opinion

Abstract

Abstract The reluctance of European leaders to promote solidaristic solutions during the crisis mainly responded to the rise of Eurosceptic sentiments at the national level (the so-called transnational cleavage). However survey data show that Northern leaders were much more opposed to crossnational solidarity than their voters, especially centre-right leaders. Given the role of Germany within the EU, the responsibility of this country’s Christian democrats in eroding the communal foundations of the EU is hard to deny. The divergence between the German elite and the voters corroborates the deep influence exercised by the ordoliberal ideology at the elite level—and thus indirectly and more generally the autonomous causal role of ideologies. The situation started to change in correspondence with the 2019 European election. A gradual realignment of elite-mass orientations took off, driven by a process of ideological revision which affected in particular the German context.