ABSTRACT
In 2003 nearly 70 percent of the inhabitants of Kobyla Góra municipality in West Central Poland voted to support Polish membership in the European Union in the national referendum. The town and the villages in the municipality overwhelmingly said “yes” and thus helped pave the way for the country’s integration with Western Europe. Yet among the deluge of enthusiastic supporters, three neighboring villages stood out. They were the only units in the municipality where the majority of voters opposed EU membership. Why did the majority of people in villages of Ignaców, Parzynów, and Mostki become Euroskeptic despite living in a predominantly pro-EU municipality and county? More generally, how do we explain the emergence and diffusion of divergent attitudes towards European integration in economically and culturally similar regions?
