Ideologically Illogical? Why Do the Lower-Educated Dutch Display so Little Value Coherence?

In studies of mass ideology, it is often found that political values are ordered two-dimensionally among the public at large. In a first economic dimension, equality is contested; in a second cultural one, individual freedom is contested. While this general rule of two-dimensionality applies to the public at large, there are large differences between educational categories. While two-dimensionality is found for the lower educated, the higher educated order their values along a single dimension and hence show more value coherence. Using a recent Dutch national survey, we show that these differe... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Achterberg, Peter
Houtman, Dick
Dokumenttyp: TEXT
Erscheinungsdatum: 2009
Verlag/Hrsg.: Oxford University Press
Schlagwörter: Other Articles
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-27412439
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
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Link(s) : http://sf.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/87/3/1649

In studies of mass ideology, it is often found that political values are ordered two-dimensionally among the public at large. In a first economic dimension, equality is contested; in a second cultural one, individual freedom is contested. While this general rule of two-dimensionality applies to the public at large, there are large differences between educational categories. While two-dimensionality is found for the lower educated, the higher educated order their values along a single dimension and hence show more value coherence. Using a recent Dutch national survey, we show that these differences between the higher and the lower educated cannot be explained by differences in political competence. Instead, a combination of cultural and economic insecurity is responsible for the lower levels of value coherence among the lower educated.