Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The Effect of Inequality on the Relation Between Socioeconomic Stratification and Political Trust in Europe

  • Published:
Social Justice Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

While the relation between inequality and levels of political trust has been intensely investigated, there is no consensus yet on the mechanism behind this relation. In this paper, we use multilevel models to analyse the diverging impact of economic inequality on political trust for different social groups within European countries. We observe that changes in inequality are associated with lower levels of political trust across all social strata, as operationalised through income level, education and employment status. In more unequal societies, differences in political trust between social strata are also smaller. In equal countries, on the other hand, well-off citizens are clearly more trusting than their less well-off counterparts. Altogether, the study contributes to discussions about the determinants of political support and how citizens are connected to their political system in an era of rising inequality, by suggesting the presence of a social justice frame. The analyses are based on the European Social Survey (2002–2016).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. We will study 28 countries, for which we have full information available in the main models of the article (i.e. Tables 1 and 2). The individual N depends on the models specifications.

  2. Replicating the analyses with a broader indicator of institutional trust (with trust in the legal system and police included within the mean-score) does not alter the results given the strong internal coherence of the political trust scale.

  3. The Cronbach’s alpha of the political trust scale for 2002 is 0.809 and for the 2004–2016 waves is 0.907.

  4. When interpreting the association between this indicator and political trust, it should be taken into account that other socio-psychological processes might be at play here, that define how economically satisfied an individual reports to be (e.g., because of diverging processes of social comparison or relative deprivation between countries). .

  5. Eurostat operationalises this indicator in the following manner: “This indicator corresponds to the sum of persons who are: at risk of poverty after social transfers, severely materially deprived or living in households with very low work intensity. Persons are counted only once even if they are affected by more than one of these phenomena. Persons are considered to be at risk of poverty after social transfers, if they have an equivalised disposable income below the risk-of-poverty threshold, which is set at 60% of the national median equivalised disposable income” (Eurostat, 2018c). .

  6. As we are using Eurostat data, we miss information for some non-EU member countries: Albania, Israel, Russia, Ukraine and Kosovo. Similarly, for the OECD data, some country level information is missing too: Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Kosovo, Romania, Russia, Switzerland and Ukraine.

  7. Expressed in euros and controlled for purchasing power parity.

  8. We have missing information for Israel, Kosovo, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine on the GDP per capita indicator.

  9. Note that the within variation is always smaller than the between variation.

  10. Before starting the analyses, we tested whether the errors of our country level variables were independently distributed (which we would expect if the data were drawn from a random sample). This was indeed the case (residual plots available on request): the residual pattern did not suggest any obvious reason to be concerned about the consequences of the fact that we rely on a non-random sample.

  11. Analysing the different operationalisations of socioeconomic status together in one model does not lead to problems with multi-collinearity: the VIF-scores of the variables were never higher that 3 (tested on pooled data).

  12. Model 4, which includes the interaction term with and random slope for economic satisfaction reports a slightly different coefficient: (β = 0.22, p < .001).

  13. We checked for all inequality variables whether there was sufficient within variation (versus between variation) before constructing our orthogonal terms. In the case of the P90/P50 variable, there was hardly any within-country variation in the indicator. Therefore, we only analyse the countrywide average (cfr. the “between” variation) of this variable.

  14. The interaction coefficients with the within inequality indicators were mostly non-significant.

  15. This statement is applicable both when analysing models that include or exclude the interaction effects.

References

  • Acemoglu, D., & Robinson, J. (2012). Why nations fail. New York: Crown.

    Google Scholar 

  • Almond, G. A., & Verba, S. (1963). The civic culture. Political attitudes and democracy in five nations. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Andersen, R., & Curtis, J. (2015). Social class, economic inequality, and the convergence of policy preferences: Evidence from 24 modern democracies. Canadian Review of Sociology,52(3), 267–288.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, C. J. (2007). The interaction of structures and voting behavior. In R. J. Dalton & H.-D. Klingemann (Eds.), Oxford handbook of political behavior (pp. 589–609). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anderson, C. J., & Singer, M. M. (2008). The sensitive left and the impervious right. Multilevel models and the politics of inequality, ideology, and legitimacy in Europe. Comparative Political Studies,41(4/5), 564–599.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Armingeon, K., & Guthmann, K. (2014). Democracy in crisis? The declining support for national democracy in European Countries, 2007–2011. European Journal of Political Research,53(3), 423–442.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Armingeon, K., & Schädel, L. (2015). Social inequality in political participation: The dark sides of individualisation. West European Politics,38(1), 1–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Atkinson, A. B. (2015). Inequality. What can be done?. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Banfield, E. (1958). The moral basis of a backward society. Glencoe: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bartels, L. M. (2008). Unequal democracy: The political economy of the new gilded age. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bell, A., Fairbrother, M., & Jones, K. (2019). Fixed and random effects models: Making an informed choice. Quality & Quantity,53(2), 1051–1074.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bénabou, R., & Tirole, J. (2006). Belief in a just world and redistributive politics. The Quarterly Journal of Economics,121(2), 699–746.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beramendi, P., & Anderson, C. (Eds.). (2008). Democracy, inequality, and representation. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boda, Z., & Medve-Bálint, G. (2014). The poorer you are, the more you trust? The effect of inequality and income on institutional trust in East-Central Europe. Czech Sociological Review,50(3), 419–453.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bovens, M., & Wille, A. (2017). Diplomacy democracy. The rise of political meritocracy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Braithwaite, V., & Levi, M. (Eds.). (1998). Trust and governance. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brambor, T., Clark, W. R., & Golder, M. (2006). Understanding interaction models: Improving empirical analyses. Political Analysis,14(1), 63–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Catterberg, G., & Moreno, A. (2006). The individual bases of political trust: Trends in new and established democracies. International Journal of Public Opinion Research,18(1), 31–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Curtis, J., & Andersen, R. (2015). How social class shapes attitudes on economic inequality: The competing forces of self-interest and legitimation. International Review of Social Research,5(1), 4–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daenekindt, S., van der Waal, J., & de Koster, W. (2018). Social mobility and political distrust: Cults of gratitude and resentment? Acta Politica,53(2), 269–282.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dahl, R. (2000). On democracy. New Haven: Yale University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Vroome, T., Hooghe, M., & Marien, S. (2013). The origins of generalized and political trust among immigrant minorities and the majority population in the Netherlands. European Sociological Review,29(6), 1336–1350.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Easton, D. (1965). A framework for political analysis. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ebbinghaus, B. (2012). Comparing Welfare State Regimes: Are Typologies an Ideal or Realistic Strategy? In ESPAnet conference, Edinburgh, UK, 6–8 September.

  • Enders, C. K., & Tofighi, D. (2007). Centering predictor variables in cross-sectional multilevel models: A new look at an old issue. Psychological Methods,12(2), 121–138.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Etzioni, A. (1988). The moral dimension. New York: The Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Social Survey. (2018). Data and documentation. Retrieved January 25, 2018 from, http://www.europeansocialsurvey.org/data/.

  • Eurostat. (2018a). Income and living conditions. Retrieved January 25, 2018 from,http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/income-and-living-conditions/overview

  • Eurostat. (2018b). National Accounts (including GDP). Retrieved January 25, 2018 from, http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/national-accounts/overview

  • Eurostat. (2018c). People at risk of poverty or social exclusion. Retrieved January 25, 2018 from, https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-datasets/-/sdg_01_10

  • Fairbrother, M. (2014). Two multilevel modeling techniques for analyzing comparative longitudinal survey datasets. Political Science Research and Methods,2(1), 119–140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fairbrother, M., & Martin, I. W. (2013). Does inequality Erode Social Trust? Results from multilevel models of US States and counties. Social Science Research,42(2), 347–360.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Fatke, M. (2018). Inequality perceptions, preferences conducive to redistribution, and the conditioning role of social position. Societies,8(4), 1–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Finseraas, H. (2009). Income inequality and demand for redistribution: A multilevel analysis of European public opinion. Scandinavian Political Studies,32(1), 94–119.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gelman, A., & Hill, J. (2007). Data analysis using regression and multilevel/hierarchical models. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gilens, M. (2005). Inequality and democratic responsiveness. Public Opinion Quarterly,69(5), 778–796.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodin, R., & Dryzek, J. (1980). Rational participation: The politics of relative power. British Journal of Political Science,10(3), 273–292.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gould, E. D., & Hijzen, A. (2016) Growing apart, losing trust? The impact of inequality on social capital. Available at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2882614.

  • Hakhverdian, A., & Mayne, Q. (2012). Institutional trust, education, and corruption: A micro–macro interactive approach. Journal of Politics,74(3), 739–750.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haugsgjerd, A. (2018). Political distrust amidst The Great Recession: The mitigating effect of welfare state effort. Comparative European Politics,16(4), 620–648.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Healy, A., & Lenz, A. (2014). Substituting the end for the whole: Why voters respond primarily to the election-year economy. American Journal of Political Science,58(1), 31–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hooghe, M. (2011). Why there is basically only one form of political trust. British Journal of Politics and International Relations,13(2), 269–275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hooghe, M., Marien, S., & Oser, J. (2017). Great expectations. The effect of democratic ideals on political trust in European democracies. Contemporary Politics,23(2), 214–230.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jaeger, M. (2013). The effect of macroeconomic and social conditions on the demand for redistribution: A pseudo panel approach. Journal of European Social Policy,23(2), 149–163.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Janmaat, J. G. (2013). Subjective inequality: A review of international comparative studies on people’s views about inequality. European Journal of Sociology/Archives Européennes de Sociologie,54(3), 357–389.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jensen, C., & van Kersbergen, K. (2017). The politics of inequality. Basingstoke: Palgrave.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Jost, J. T. (2018). A quarter century of system justification theory: Questions, answers, criticisms, and societal applications. British Journal of Social Psychology,58(2), 263–314.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jost, J., Pelham, B. W., Sheldon, O., & Sullivan, B. N. (2003). Social inequality and the reduction of ideological dissonance on behalf of the system: Evidence of enhanced system justification among the disadvantaged. European Journal of Social Psychology,33(1), 13–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krieckhaus, J., Son, B., Bellinger, N. M., & Wells, J. M. (2014). Economic inequality and democratic support. The Journal of Politics,76(1), 139–151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lancee, B., & Van de Werfhorst, H. G. (2012). Income inequality and participation: A comparison of 24 European Countries. Social Science Research,41(5), 1166–1178.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Loveless, M. (2013). The deterioration of democratic political culture: Consequences of the perception of inequality. Social Justice Research,26(4), 471–491.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lühiste, K. (2014). Social protection and satisfaction with democracy: A multi-level analysis. Political Studies,62(4), 784–803.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marshall, T. H. (1964). Class, citizenship, and social development. Garden City: Doubleday.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mijs, J. B. (2019). The paradox of inequality: Income inequality and belief in meritocracy go hand in hand. Socio-Economic Review(online first)

  • Mishler, W., & Rose, R. (2001). What are the origins of political trust? Testing institutional and cultural theories in post-communist societies. Comparative Political Studies,34(1), 30–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Möhring, K. (2012). The fixed effects approach as alternative to multilevel models for cross-national analyses. GK SOCLIFE working paper series, 16/2012.

  • Neckerman, K. M., & Torche, F. (2007). Inequality: causes and consequences. Annual Review of Sociology,33(1), 335–357.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Newton, K. (2007). Social and political trust. In R. J. Dalton & H.-D. Klingemann (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of political behavior (pp. 342–361). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Norris, P. (2011). Democratic deficit. Critical citizens revisited. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • OECD. (2015). In it together: Why less inequality benefits all. Paris: OECD Publishing.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • OECD. (2018). Income inequality. Retrieved January 25, 2018 from, https://data.oecd.org/inequality/income-inequality.htm

  • Oesch, D. (2012). The class basis of the cleavage between the new left and the radical right: An analysis for Austria, Denmark, Norway and Switzerland. In J. Rydgen (Ed.), Class politics and the radical right (pp. 31–52). Abingdon: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Page, B. I., Bartels, L. M., & Seawright, J. (2013). Democracy and the policy preferences of Wealthy Americans. Perspectives on Politics,11(1), 51–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Piketty, T. (2014). Capital in the twenty-first century. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Putnam, R. D., Pharr, S. J., & Dalton, R. J. (2000). Introduction: What’s troubling the trilateral democracies? In S. J. Pharr & R. D. Putnam (Eds.), Disaffected democracies. What’s troubling the trilateral countries? (pp. 3–27). Princeton: Princeton University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosset, J., Giger, N., & Bernauer, J. (2013). More money, fewer problems? Cross-level effects of economic deprivation on political representation. West European Politics,36(4), 817–835.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rothstein, B. (2011). The quality of government. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Rothstein, B., & Uslaner, E. M. (2005). All for all: Equality, corruption, and social trust. World Politics,58(1), 41–72.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rueda, D., & Stegmueller, D. (2016). The externalities of inequality: Fear of crime and preferences for redistribution in Western Europe. American Journal of Political Science,60(2), 472–489.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salverda, W., Nolan, B., & Smeeding, T. M. (Eds.). (2009). The Oxford handbook of economic inequality. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt-Catran, A. W. (2016). Economic inequality and public demand for redistribution: Combining cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence. Socio-Economic Review,14(1), 119–140.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schoon, I., & Cheng, H. (2011). Determinants of political trust: A lifetime learning model. Developmental Psychology,47(3), 619–631.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Schoon, I., Cheng, H., Gale, C. R., Batty, G. D. & Deary. I.J. (2010). Social status, cognitive ability, and educational attainment as predictors of liberal social attitudes and political trust. Intelligence,38(1), 144–150.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Solt, F. (2008). Economic inequality and democratic political engagement. American Journal of Political Science,52(1), 48–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Solt, F. (2015). Economic inequality and nonviolent protest. Social Science Quarterly,96(5), 1314–1327.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stiglitz, J. E. (2012). The price of inequality. New York: Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Torcal, M. (2014). The decline of political trust in Spain and Portugal: Economic performance or political responsiveness? American Behavioral Scientist,58(12), 1542–1567.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Uslaner, E. M. (2008). Corruption, inequality and the rule of law: The bulging pocket makes the easy life. New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Van de Werfhorst, H. G., & Salverda, W. (2012). Consequences of economic inequality: Introduction to a special issue. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility,30(4), 377–387.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van der Meer, T., & Hakhverdian, A. (2017). Political trust as the evaluation of process and performance: A cross-national study of 42 European countries. Political Studies,65(1), 81–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Erkel, P., & van der Meer, T. (2016). Macroeconomic performance, political trust and the great recession. European Journal of Political Research,55(1), 177–197.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Verba, S., Schlozman, K. L., & Brady, H. (1995). Voice and equality. Civic voluntarism in American Politics. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilkinson, R. G., & Pickett, K. E. (2010). The spirit level: Why equality is better for everyone. London: Penguin Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank. (2018). Worldwide governance indicators. Retrieved January 25, 2018 from, http://databank.worldbank.org/data/reports.aspx?source=worldwide-governance-indicators

  • Wroe, A. (2016). Economic insecurity and political trust in the United States. American Politics Research,44(1), 131–163.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zmerli, S., & Castillo, J. C. (2015). Income inequality, distributive fairness and political trust in Latin America. Social Science Research,52, 179–192.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zmerli, S., & Hooghe, M. (Eds.). (2011). Political trust. Why context matters. Colchester: ECPR Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. KU Leuven, Parkstraat 45, B3602, 3000, Leuven, Belgium

    Silke Goubin & Marc Hooghe

Authors
  1. Silke Goubin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Marc Hooghe
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Silke Goubin.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 107 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Goubin, S., Hooghe, M. The Effect of Inequality on the Relation Between Socioeconomic Stratification and Political Trust in Europe. Soc Just Res 33, 219–247 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11211-020-00350-z

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11211-020-00350-z

Keywords

Search

Navigation