The Deterioration of Democratic Political Culture: Consequences of the Perception of Inequality

Loveless, Matthew

doi:10.1007/s11211-013-0198-7

Cited by 52 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…Anderson and Singer () show that income disparities within countries diminish trust in national institutions among those who place themselves on the left, but van der Meer and Hakhverdian () find that inequality is more detrimental to satisfaction with democracy among those leaning to the right. Other research finds that individuals in the same country—and hence under the same level of objective inequality—may hold very different perceptions of inequality and that these judgments better explain the individual experience of inequality and its impact on political attitudes (Loveless, ; Loveless & Whitefield, ). This, again, suggests that we should expect inequality to undermine citizens’ political trust only to the extent that inequality is perceived to violate individual expectations.…”

Section: Economic Inequality As a Predictor Of Supportmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Perceptions of Inequality Between Countries Diminish Trust in the European Union: Experimental and Observational Evidence

Guinjoan

Rico

2018

Political Psychology

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In the context of increasingly salient economic disparities between member states, this article tests the novel theoretical claim that perceptions of inequality between European Union (EU) member states diminish citizens' trust in European institutions. Drawing on system justification theory, we argue that the negative effect of perceived intercountry inequality will be reduced as individuals become more willing to accept social inequality and to reject redistribution. We test these propositions using a survey experiment conducted in Spain (Study 1) and a representative survey in eight EU countries (Study 2). Results from Study 1 show that when citizens are led to believe that overall levels of inequality within the EU are high, they tend to express lower levels of trust in European institutions than when displayed low levels of inequality. This finding is replicated in Study 2 using observational data on individual perceptions of inequality between countries. Results confirm the role of systemjustifying beliefs as a psychological antecedent of responses to inequality between countries.

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Section: Economic Inequality As a Predictor Of Supportmentioning

confidence: 99%

How Perceptions of Inequality Between Countries Diminish Trust in the European Union: Experimental and Observational Evidence

Guinjoan

Rico

2018

Political Psychology

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“…In this respect, political efficacy is central to the longevity and quality of democracy. Efficacy can be understood as an individual's belief or expectation that their actions are meaningful (Loveless, ) and, empirically, it is defined in one of two ways. External efficacy relates to a person's belief that governing institutions are responsive to their interests and internal efficacy refers to an individual's belief that they have knowledge of politics and that their participation in the political process affects policy outcomes.…”

Section: The Impact Of Political Efficacy On Public Supportmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Political Efficacy on Public Opinion in the European Union

McEvoy

2016

J of Common Market Studies

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Recent developments in EU (European Union) support literature confirm that citizen attitudes towards the EU are shaped by both input-oriented factors relating to the procedural fairness of the system (e.g. political representation and identity) and output-oriented factors based on the EU's capacity to yield economic benefits. This article builds on these models by suggesting a theoretical framework of support that is driven by both perceptions of the economy and political efficacy. Using data from the 2013 Eurobarometer 80.1, I find that political efficacy is a key predictor of public opinion towards the EU and that citizens who feel their voice is represented in the EU are more likely to maintain support for the EU even when their perceptions of the economy are poor. The findings in this article have particular significance to the puzzle of declining support for the EU following the onset of the 'great recession' in 2008.

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“…Recent work has shown that in CEE countries, individuals' perceptions of macro‐economic indicators including income inequality do not move together with changes in the actual indicators (Kreidl, ; Loveless and Whitefield, ; Tverdova, ), and a substantial body of literature has established that perceptions affect individual behaviour (Kunda, ; Lodge and McGraw, ; Lupia et al ., ; Sniderman et al ., ; Tversky and Kahneman, ). Thus, as discussed by Loveless (), perceptions of the extent of inequality that individuals see are highly salient and potentially harmful to the function of democratic politics, and the examination of the concept of physical location (where one is rich or poor) is crucial to understand the formation of these perceptions. Variation in urbanity activates socio‐economic differences that affect the impact of income on perceptions.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The urban–rural divide

Binelli

Loveless²

2016

Econ Transit

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A vast literature has related perceptions of income inequality to individuals' income: the higher the level of income, the less inequality is perceived. Here, examining the perceptions of income and social inequality, we argue that rural or urban residence affects both inequality perceptions and the impact of income on these perceptions. We test the theory using survey data from 12 Central and Eastern European countries and we find that income negatively affects inequality perceptions but only in urban areas. These findings confirm the importance of accounting for urbanity to understand what drives individuals' perceptions of inequality.

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The Deterioration of Democratic Political Culture: Consequences of the Perception of Inequality

Cited by 52 publications

References 51 publications

How Perceptions of Inequality Between Countries Diminish Trust in the European Union: Experimental and Observational Evidence

How Perceptions of Inequality Between Countries Diminish Trust in the European Union: Experimental and Observational Evidence

The Role of Political Efficacy on Public Opinion in the European Union

The urban–rural divide

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