How the criteria for joining the European Union affect public opinion: the case of equal pay between women and men in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Abstract:

Existing studies suggest that normative commitments to the European Union's gender equality standards remain weak in states applying for EU membership, and that citizens are unresponsive to information the EU provides. However, these studies do not gauge public support for women's rights when they are addressed as an EU issue (an EU frame).

In an original experimental survey of Bosnia and Herzegovina, I examine the effect of EU framing on support for equal pay between women and men, and the responsibility assigned to the government for unequal pay. I find that EU frames affect the responsibility assigned to the government. Supporters of independence from the EU assign less responsibility to their government for unequal pay, when equal pay is addressed as an EU issue.