The politics of borders How intra-European border policies shape political attitudes in the European Union

When governments close borders, how do they justify this and what happens to the people who live near them? This dissertation investigates how intra-European border policies shape the political attitudes of EU citizens. Although the Schengen Area was built on the promise of free movement, Member States have increasingly reintroduced temporary border controls, as was most visible during the migration crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. This dissertation asks whether these decisions impact not just travel and trade, but also how citizens relate to their governments and to Europe itself. I argue that border policies reach citizens through both, direct experience and official communication. Those living in border regions feel the consequences in their daily lives through disrupted routines, economic uncertainty, and changed social interactions. Citizens are also exposed to how governments justify these measures, for example as legal obligations, security, or cooperative action. Drawing on original datasets that combine survey data, government communications, and detailed border closure records across Germany, France, and the Netherlands, the findings reveal a mixed picture. Direct exposure produces significant but temporary attitudinal shifts. Government justifications matter less for their specific content than for whether they meet basic standards of accountability. Taken together, the results demonstrate an underexplored dimension of European politics focusing on borders not just as lines on a map but as political acts that citizens experience and engage with.