Introduction

Abstract

Not all that many people are all that interested in politics. It is true that there has been a decline in electoral turnouts over recent years, but it has always been the case that a minority corresponded to the Aristotelian and J.S. Mill model of the active citizen. The majority of citizens occupy the private sphere — concerning themselves with their families, their jobs, their other interests and so on — rather than participating extensively in the public sphere of collective action. Not many people are interested in the European Union (EU) either. That is partly because it is distant; partly because it is difficult to understand and partly because it is not very interesting a lot of the time. A glance at the language and acronyms associated with it — incomprehensible to the majority — helps explain a lack of popular enthusiasm.