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More than self-interest: Why different classes have different attitudes to income inequality
[journal article]
Abstract The connection between social class and political preferences is among the most well established in the social sciences. This association is typically taken as prima facie evidence of economic self-interest: Classes hold different attitudes, values, and party preferences because they have different ... view more
The connection between social class and political preferences is among the most well established in the social sciences. This association is typically taken as prima facie evidence of economic self-interest: Classes hold different attitudes, values, and party preferences because they have different economic interests. However, this assumption has rarely been tested empirically. In this article, we use survey data from 18 West European countries to examine why classes differ on a central aspect of political preferences, namely their views on the desirability of income inequality. We find that only a moderate proportion of differences between employee classes in support for redistribution can be accounted for by contemporary differences in resources and risks; differences in economic interests to some degree account for the anti-redistributive preferences of the professional middle classes compared with the working class. However, the preferences of the self-employed have a different explanation; autonomy is a better explanation of the right-wing preferences of the self-employed compared with the working class.... view less
Keywords
social class; social stratification; redistribution of income; inequality; political attitude; value-orientation; Western Europe
Classification
General Sociology, Basic Research, General Concepts and History of Sociology, Sociological Theories
Free Keywords
EGP; mechanisms; redistributive preferences; self-interest; European Values Study 2008, 4th wave, integrated dataset, ZA4800 Dataset Version 2.0.0
Document language
English
Publication Year
2020
Page/Pages
p. 594-607
Journal
British Journal of Sociology, 71 (2020) 4
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-4446.12747
ISSN
1468-4446
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed