Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/217726 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Citation: 
[Journal:] European Journal of Government and Economics (EJGE) [ISSN:] 2254-7088 [Volume:] 3 [Issue:] 1 [Publisher:] Universidade da Coruña [Place:] A Coruña [Year:] 2014 [Pages:] 24-46
Publisher: 
Universidade da Coruña, A Coruña
Abstract: 
Solving collective action problems, such as poverty reduction or climate change, depends on interactions between governments' and voters' preferences regarding pro-social actions. This paper examines whether the overall direction of change in pro-social public policy precedes public value-change, rather than the other way around. We examine change in the public's pro-social values in six European countries, as measured by the European Social Survey (ESS) during 2002-2012. In these countries, we conducted an expert survey to rate governmental policy that expresses these values over the same period, thereby examining value-change in governmental policy. The chronological comparison of value-change of the public with that of respective governments suggests that changes in pro-social government policies may drive public value-change rather than vice versa. This complements previous studies focused on the opinion-policy connection. Possible political implications are discussed. The promising findings of this initial study point to the importance of conducting larger-scale future studies.
Subjects: 
Values
policy feedback
democracy
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
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Document Type: 
Article

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