ISSN:0304-4130    

DOI:10.1111/j.1475-6765.1995.tb00626.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1995

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Abstract.Much of the research on the European Community focuses on elites and institutions and as a result downplays the importance of the mass public in determining the direction of European integration. A common justification for this viewpoint is that members of the public provide a stable reservoir of strong support for European integration. Recent political events, however, raise doubts about this depiction of a ‘passive public’. Consequently, there is a need for a fuller understanding of European attitudes. We specify a number of hypotheses dealing with the effects of international trade interests, security concerns, and demographic characteristics on cross‐national and cross‐sectional variations in public support for European integration. Using Eurobarometer surveys and OECD data on EC trade from 1973–1989, we investigate these hypotheses in a pooled cross‐sectional model. Our statistical results reveal that an individual's level of support is positively related to her nation's security and trade interests in EC membership and her personal potential to benefit from liberalized markets for goods, labour

ISSN:0304-4130    

DOI:10.1111/j.1475-6765.1995.tb00627.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1995

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Abstract.The development of the European Community entails harmonization of policies in many areas. This paper analyses to what extent harmonization has taken place in the traditional fields of social policy. Interventions by the EC authorities in the social policy area, here termed direct harmonization, are examined. Indirect harmonization, resulting from common economic policies and the internationalization of the economy, is used as a key concept in an empirical study of the development of coverage, benefit levels and methods of financing in the main social insurance systems within the EC countries, since 1955. The corresponding development in the EFTA countries is here used as a baseline for comparison. The results are discussed in light of the thesis that also in the social field EC policies may fruitfully be interpreted in terms of the EC's main objective of economic integration. Some criteria for the consideration of future developments are suggested.

ISSN:0304-4130    

DOI:10.1111/j.1475-6765.1995.tb00628.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1995

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Abstract.Based on data from Denmark from the end of the 1970s and 1980s the paper analyzes the development of feminist attitudes during a period characterized, on the one hand, by a high, and still growing, integration of women into the labour market and political life, and on the other, by an organizational decline of the women's movement and a decline in the politicization of women's issues. At the end of the 1970s, feminist attitudes, especially among women, were unidimensionally structured and closely related to other political factors. The most feminist were the young, the well‐educated, the politically interested, and left‐wing women. At the end of the 1980s, feminist attitudes were at the same level as ten years before, but different dimensions had emerged, a social and political dispersion of feminist attitudes had taken place, and feminism no longer influenced political behaviour. In many respects, the experience of the United States in the 1970s was reversed in Denmark in the 19

ISSN:0304-4130    

DOI:10.1111/j.1475-6765.1995.tb00629.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1995

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Abstract.This study examines the impact of class self‐identification and class position on political attitudes in Great Britain, West Germany, Australia and the United States. The results show a basic similarity in the class structure of these four western nations, differences in patterns of class identification, and significant effects of class structure and class identification on political attitudes. Despite recent projections of its demise, for these four countries at least, class identification and class position are an important, albeit secondary, factor in explaining political attitudes. Of these class measures, class self‐identification is the more salient in predicting political attitu

ISSN:0304-4130    

DOI:10.1111/j.1475-6765.1995.tb00630.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1995

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Abstract.This paper examines the impact that one feature of a country's institutional context ‐the party system ‐ has on public support for governing parties in two West European democracies, Germany and Great Britain. Specifically, it argues that models of government popularity need to take politics and institutions into account, and need to do so in a systematic fashion. Using measures of party system fractionalization and public opinion data spanning the period from 1960 to 1990, the paper demonstrates that the effects of economic conditions on government support are mediated by the choices available to citizens to express discontent with the ruling party. The greater the effective number of parties in a system, the stronger the effects of macro‐economic performance on support for the gover

ISSN:0304-4130    

DOI:10.1111/j.1475-6765.1995.tb00631.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1995

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Abstract.This paper analyses the spending preferences of local government elected politicians. It is argued that the median voter model is inappropriate in multi‐party systems that provide multiple government services, and that the preferences of the representatives are consequential to local resource allocation. We develop a micromodel in which service demand is conditioned by exogenous public revenue, prices, and demographic factors. We hypothesise that politicians demands are affected by party affiliation, public sector occupation and committee assignment. The estimates of the micro demand functions are based on data pertaining to Norwegian local governments. It is found that the estimated income elasticities correspond approximately with elasticities of output studies. Party affiliation has an impact on demand patterns, while government occupation and committee appointment are major determinants of politicians desired allocation of public services. Further analyses reveal that the numerical strength of parties impacts weakly on the actual service allocation, whereas the representation of government employees has occasional effect. The budgetary allocations are imperfect expressions of the elected council's underlying preference

ISSN:0304-4130    

DOI:10.1111/j.1475-6765.1995.tb00632.x

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1995

数据来源: WILEY