Activity 4: What have the major trends been in people’s orientations towards politics in the largest First World democracies since 1960?
Mistrust of the government
A major trend that has been visible in many of the largest First World democracies is the growing mistrust of the government. While in the 1950’s three out of four US Americans would say that they trust in their government to do the right things, this number has declined to just about 40% in 2004 (Wilson/DiIulio 2007). This corresponds with the increasing belief of American citizens that the political system is unlikely to respond to their needs and beliefs. Political scientists measure this in the political efficacy. Political efficacy consists of two parts:
- Internal efficacy – the belief that to be able to understand and take part in politics
- External efficacy – the belief that the system will respond to the citizens
While most studies show now significant change in Internal efficacy in the United States, external efficacy steadily has been steadily declining since the mid-1960’s (Wilson/Dilulio 2007).
… to be continued… I appreciate any suggestions on a) stats on the same topic in Europe and b) further trends in people’s orientation towards politics.
Sources:
Wilson, J. / Dilulio, J. (2007): American Government: Institutions and Policies. Florence: Wadsworth Publishing
I’ve struggled slightly with this question, as none of the reading that I did for the chapter seems to be relevant. I think in the further reading Inglehart – “Culture shift in advanced industrial society” seems most closely related to the question, but I haven’t got access to it unfortunately. However, the same author has a few articles which are available on the online library which are about similar topics and of some use (“Globalization and post modern values” was particularly helpful), and its possible to find out some info on the book in question using google too.
Basically, Inglehart carried out surveys on public values in a number of Western industrialised states, and identified a shift from modern to post modern values. He argues that since roughly 1950, these states had experienced unprecedented levels of peace, prosperity and economic growth, and this had lead to a shift in values, away from a primary concern with economic well being and physical security (modern values) towards values associated with with quality of life, belonging, self-expression, etc(post modern values). He also suggests that individual’s values are formed in a socialisation period in our pre adult years and then remain relatively constant over time. What this means is that as more and more of the population is made up of those born post-1950, the more that population as a whole holds post-modern values.
This has a number of implications for people’s orientations to politics. An increased apathy towards politics may be explained by the fact that the state is seen as the provider of physical and economic security, values which are no longer as important as they were. There has been a decline in support for political parties orientated towards economic issues- notably socialist parties- and a rise in support for political movements concerned with identity and quality of life- such as feminism, environmentalism, gay rights, anti-racism and anti-war. Inglehart also suggests that when values are orientated towards security, it is conductive to xenophobia, a preference for strong leadership and willingness to defer to authority. A shift away from such values has lead to greater acceptance of cultural diversity, and a greater willingness to challenge political elites and the centralised, hierarchical authority of the state. Political institutions may therefore need to adapt to these changes if they are to maintain legitimacy.
George