Special issue on attitudes, values and social structures in European countries
Authors: Jorge Vala, Anlia Torres
Page: 157-158
DOI: 10.1386/pjss.5.3.157_2
Class effects and societal effects: Elite and working class attitudes towards political citizenship from a European comparative perspective
Authors: Manuel Villaverde Cabral
Page: 159-178
DOI: 10.1386/pjss.5.3.159_1
Abstract
Comparative studies of civic culture and political attitudes usually have national societies as the unit of analysis. However, in relatively homogenous areas such as Western Europe, differences between countries are frequently less important than those observed between different social groups within each country. Here, the comparison is centred on a set of social groups the socio-economic elites and the working class sufficiently large to allow for the following observations: (1) to what extent do these groups possess, at an European level, similarities hidden by national averages and (2) whether the differences observed between European societies possess an explanatory effect on the performance of those groups, i.e. whether there is in operation a pervasive societal effect. Both hypotheses are confirmed, although in Portugal the preponderance of the latter is significantly greater, i.e. the societal effect tends to prevail over the class effect.
European attitudes and values: The perspective of gender in a transverse analysis
Authors: Anália Torres, Rui Brites
Page: 179-214
DOI: 10.1386/pjss.5.3.179_1
Abstract
Although it is known that the differences within sexes are much more significant than the differences between sexes, the tendency is to overstress the later ones. In this article we analyze, in a transversal perspective centred on gender, all the answers of the ESS questionnaire, addressing some of the main issues of the survey like the exposition to media, politics, the subjective perception of wellbeing and security and human values and trying to evaluate differences and similarities between men and women. Concluding that, as expected, there is a vast domain of convergence between the sexes in attitudes and opinions, though contesting essentialist positions, it is nevertheless interesting to stress also where some of the differences are concentrated and trying to access and explain them. Among other issues the passage from a traditional gender gap to a modern gender gap is one of the topics of discussion.
Predispositions to discriminatory immigration policies in western Europe: An exploration of political causes
Authors: Enric Martnez-Herrera, Djaouida Moualhi
Page: 215-233
DOI: 10.1386/pjss.5.3.215_1
Abstract
We analyze citizens’ predispositions concerning policies of immigrant selection and models of immigrant accommodation as observed by the 20023 European Social Survey. We focus on some of the EU’s major countries, namely: Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom, which were chosen because of their different experiences as migration destinations, as well as for the relevance of their immigration policy models and welfare states. On this basis, we compare citizens’ attitudinal inclinations with the policies actually being implemented, and propose interpretations concerning the degree of consistency between both levels. Firstly, we consider attitudes and policies in respect of the discrimination faced by immigrants according to their country of origin and/or economic resources. Secondly, we analyze the attitudes and policies with regard to assimilationist and multicultural integration models. Finally, we examine the recognition of certain rights to migrants.
Portuguese Journal of Social Science 