Urban-rural Differences in Attitudes Towards Distributive Policies

• In Event: Support for Democracy and Distributive Policies

Abstract

The rise of the knowledge economy has led to a bifurcation between prosperous cities on the one hand and left-behind towns and rural areas on the other hand. The political implications of this divide have become visible with Brexit, Trump, and the rise of populist parties across Europe and beyond. Besides voting behaviour, place has been proven to affect a range of socio-cultural attitudes and identities. What remains unclear however is how place shapes economic policy preferences. Based on recent arguments by the welfare state literature, I contend that citizens in left-behind regions prioritise social compensation policies over social investment policies since they evaluate the latter more negatively. Using data from an original survey in four West European countries (Germany, Spain, Sweden, UK) on distributive policy preferences, this paper shows that in rural areas social compensation measures are deemed more important than social investment policies. This stands in sharp contrast to policy solutions that aim at a sustainable development of remote regions by investing in skills and capabilities, such as promoted by rationalist or technocratic approaches. These findings contribute to a bigger discussion about how to compensate left-behind regions and thereby how to moderate populist appeals.

Author

• Michael Pinggera, University of Zurich