Freedom and equality in democracies: is there a trade-off?

Journal article | Zeitschriftenartikel

In political philosophy, economic theory and public discourse, there is a seemingly endless debate on what the essence of equality and freedom is and what relation between the two is essential to a good political order. Views range from the conviction that too much socio-economic equality jeopardises freedom to the position that a certain level of equality is necessary for the proper realisation of freedom. Building on these conflicting normative claims, we look at data from more than 50 established and emerging democracies for a period of more than 20 years to investigate whether there is indeed a trade-off between freedom and equality or whether they are mutually reinforcing. In the process, we distinguish between two types of equality – political and socio-economic. Our findings suggest that there is a positive relationship between freedom and both types of equality – even if we control for the level of economic development.

Angaben zum Objekt

• ISSN: 1460-373X
• Umfang: Seite(n): 594-605
• Sprache: Englisch
• Anmerkungen: Status: Veröffentlichungsversion; begutachtet (peer reviewed)

Verweise und Beziehungen

• Erschienen in: International Political Science Review, 37(5)

Klassifikation und Themen

• Thema: Politikwissenschaft ; Allgemeines, spezielle Theorien und Schulen, Methoden, Entwicklung und Geschichte der Politikwissenschaft ; Freiheit ; Gleichheit ; Demokratie ; vergleichende Politikwissenschaft

Beteiligte, Orts- und Zeitangaben

• Ereignis: Geistige Schöpfung
• (wer): Giebler, Heiko ; Merkel, Wolfgang
• Ereignis: Veröffentlichung
• (wo): Vereinigte Staaten von Amerika
• (wann): 2016

Weitere Informationen

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0192512116642221
• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/171367
• Rechteinformation: GESIS - Leibniz-Institut für Sozialwissenschaften. Bibliothek Köln
• Letzte Aktualisierung: 21.06.1970, 00:00 MEZ