Political support in hard times: Do people care about national welfare?

Arbeitspapier

During the Great Recession mass demonstrations indicated weakened political support in Europe. We show that growing dissatisfaction often reflects poor economic conditions and unemployment is particularly important. Using individual level data for 16 Western European countries for 1976-2010, we find that national economic performance matters even beyond personal economic outcomes. Finally, while the effects of growth and unemployment rates are the same across demographic subsets, the effect of inflation is heterogeneous. Well-educated or working individuals put a relatively higher weight on price stability than the less skilled or not working. Our findings reinforce the political importance of employment and growth policies.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: WZB Discussion Paper ; No. SP II 2013-212

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Structure, Scope, and Performance of Government ; Institutions and Growth ; Capitalist Systems: Political Economy
• Subject: political support ; satisfaction with democracy ; growth ; unemployment ; collectivism

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Friedrichsen, Jana ; Zahn, Philipp
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung (WZB)
• (where): Berlin
• (when): 2013

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/90652
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET