Klaus Armingeon | University of Bern (original) (raw)
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Papers by Klaus Armingeon
Journal of European Public Policy, 2020
Reducing economic inequality and combatting climate change are two strongly supported policy goal... more Reducing economic inequality and combatting climate change are two strongly supported policy goals, but they will require significant public investments. In times of limited fiscal resources, governments struggle to raise additional revenues needed to finance both, making trade-offs between generally supported policy goals likely. But how do citizens decide if they have to choose between goals they support in principle, such as spending on efforts to reduce inequality and channeling resources toward initiatives to protect the environment? We discuss three major factors that help explain this choiceinformation, self-interest, and ideological orientation. Our experimental study shows that information is not a significant determinant of such choices, and that ideology is only important as long as there are no conflicting goals. Once citizens have to decide between redistribution and environmental protection, myopic self-interest trumps all other theoretically relevant variables mentioned in the literature.
and Lic.rer.soc Ben Jann. The ISSP standard background variables are being used additionally for ... more and Lic.rer.soc Ben Jann. The ISSP standard background variables are being used additionally for a partial replication of the 1996 ISSP Module on "Role of Government" within the political project segment "Sociopolitical orientations of employees. Alignments, membership in and hostility to interest organizations and political parties".
Der Beitrag untersucht, wie im Verlauf der Staatsschuldenkrise seit Mai 2010 die Demokratie und d... more Der Beitrag untersucht, wie im Verlauf der Staatsschuldenkrise seit Mai 2010 die Demokratie und die soziale Gerechtigkeit – gemessen als sozialer Schutz und wohlfahrtsstaatliche Redistribution – in der Europaischen Union beschadigt wurde. Es wird argumentiert, dass eine Reihe von demokratisch kaum kontrollierten, aber in der Offentlichkeit weitgehend stillschweigend akzeptierten Grundsatzentscheidungen der europaischen Eliten viele Jahre nach dem Entscheidungszeitpunkt Strukturen und Abhangigkeiten geschaffen haben, die zu einer nahezu unvermeidlichen Verletzung der Demokratie auf nationaler und europaischer Ebene wie auch der sozialen Gerechtigkeit in Europa zwischen Nationen und sozialen Klassen gefuhrt haben. Was somit auf den ersten Blick als fundamentaler Zwang erscheint, ist nichts anderes als die Folge politischer Entscheidungen, zu denen es zum Entscheidungszeitpunkt durchaus akzeptable Alternativen gegeben hatte.
Journal of European Public Policy, 2017
Comparative European Politics
In times of contested globalization, democratic governments have increasing difficulties to recon... more In times of contested globalization, democratic governments have increasing difficulties to reconcile international obligations with domestic political demands. Unresponsiveness to domestic constituents due to international constraints may threaten to undermine democratic legitimacy. We assess how citizens react to non-responsive governments in the case of a high-stake direct-democratic vote in Switzerland. The 2014 referendum on restricting immigration from the European Union failed in its implementation because of the EU's refusal to negotiate the free movement rights of its citizens. How did Swiss citizens adapt their policy preferences to this implementation failure? Drawing on original survey data, we show that citizens overwhelmingly did not adapt their policy preferences; rather, they rationalized the implementation failure in an effort to protect their ideological and partisan orientations. The results suggests that governments face major challenges to convey constrained...
Given the decentralized political and administrative system of Switzerland, it is difficult to an... more Given the decentralized political and administrative system of Switzerland, it is difficult to answer the question of whether the government conducts effective sustainability checks within the framework of RIA.
Handbook of Research Methods and Applications in Political Science
Political Studies, 2021
How can we explain variation in demand for redistribution among cross-pressured voters? We argue ... more How can we explain variation in demand for redistribution among cross-pressured voters? We argue that redistributive preferences reflect an interaction between material self-interest and political ideology. The self-interest argument predicts growing opposition to redistribution as income increases, while the argument of ideologically driven preferences suggests that left-leaning citizens are more supportive of redistribution than right-leaning citizens. Focusing on cross-pressured voters, we expect that the difference in redistribution preferences between left- and right-leaning citizens is smaller at the bottom of the income hierarchy than at the top. Among the group of left-leaning citizens, the role of material self-interest is expected to be smaller than among right-leaning citizens. We provide evidence in line with our argument analysing data from the European Social Survey in 25 European democracies between 2008 and 2018.
… . Berne: University of Berne, Institute of …, 2001
Handbuch Sozialpolitik
In diesem Kapitel wird uber vier sozio-okonomische Veranderungen berichtet, die Herausforderungen... more In diesem Kapitel wird uber vier sozio-okonomische Veranderungen berichtet, die Herausforderungen fur den Wohlfahrtsstaat darstellen: Die Alterung unserer Gesellschaften, die De-Industrialisierung, das Abflachen des Wirtschaftswachstums und die steigende Einkommensungleichheit. In international vergleichender Perspektive wird gefragt, worin die Herausforderung fur den Wohlfahrtsstaat besteht, welches Ausmas diese Veranderung im zeitlichen Vergleich hat und wie Politik versucht, sie zu beeinflussen oder sozialpolitisch auf sie zu reagieren.
Global Social Policy, 2003
... Muffels, Panos Tsakloglou and David G. Mayes Restructuring the Welfare State Globalization an... more ... Muffels, Panos Tsakloglou and David G. Mayes Restructuring the Welfare State Globalization and Social Policy Reform in Finland and Sweden Virpi Timonen The Young, the Old and theState Social Care Systems in Five Industrial Nations Edited by Anneli Anttonen, John ...
European Journal of Political Research, 2014
The Great Recession that started in 2007/2008 has been the worst economic downturn since the cris... more The Great Recession that started in 2007/2008 has been the worst economic downturn since the crisis of the 1930s in Europe. It led to a major sovereign debt crisis, which is arguably the biggest challenge for the European Union (EU) and its common currency. Not since the 1950s have advanced democracies experienced such a dramatic external imposition of austerity and structural reform policies through interor supranational organisations such as the EU and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or as implicitly requested by international financial markets. Did this massive interference with the room for maneuver of parliaments and governments in many countries erode support for national democracy in the crisis since 2007? Did citizens realise that their national democratic institutions were no longer able to effectively decide on major economic and social policies, on economic and welfare state institutions? And did they react by concluding that this constrained democracy no longer merited further support? These are the questions guiding this article, which compares 26 EU countries in 2007-2011 and re-analyses 78 national surveys. Aggregate data from these surveys is analysed in a time-series cross-section design to examine changes in democratic support at the country level. The hypotheses also are tested at the individual level by estimating a series of cross-classified multilevel logistic regression models. Support for national democracy-operationalised as satisfaction with the way democracy works and as trust in parliament-declined dramatically during the crisis. This was caused both by international organisations and markets interfering with national democratic procedures and by the deteriorating situation of the national economy as perceived by individual citizens.
Comparative European Politics
In this article, we show that Next Generation EU (NGEU) is mainly a response to the economic and ... more In this article, we show that Next Generation EU (NGEU) is mainly a response to the economic and political imbalances left over from the Eurozone crisis. It is a pre-emptive intervention, especially targeted at structurally weak economies with rising Euroscepticism, to avoid costly ex-post bailouts as in the Great Recession. We demonstrate, using quantitative analysis, that pre-existing vulnerabilities, rather than the impact of the pandemic, drove the allocation of NGEU resources: per capita grants largely correspond to past economic vulnerabilities, as well as to political ones. Countries most vulnerable to another adjustment by austerity after the COVID-19 economic crisis receive most resources. Also, countries with strong anti-EU sentiments are entitled to larger NGEU grants per capita. In contrast, grants are not correlated with the severity of the health crisis. Then, we show the domestic relevance of economic and political vulnerabilities through qualitative case studies of n...
Journal of European Public Policy, 2020
Reducing economic inequality and combatting climate change are two strongly supported policy goal... more Reducing economic inequality and combatting climate change are two strongly supported policy goals, but they will require significant public investments. In times of limited fiscal resources, governments struggle to raise additional revenues needed to finance both, making trade-offs between generally supported policy goals likely. But how do citizens decide if they have to choose between goals they support in principle, such as spending on efforts to reduce inequality and channeling resources toward initiatives to protect the environment? We discuss three major factors that help explain this choiceinformation, self-interest, and ideological orientation. Our experimental study shows that information is not a significant determinant of such choices, and that ideology is only important as long as there are no conflicting goals. Once citizens have to decide between redistribution and environmental protection, myopic self-interest trumps all other theoretically relevant variables mentioned in the literature.
and Lic.rer.soc Ben Jann. The ISSP standard background variables are being used additionally for ... more and Lic.rer.soc Ben Jann. The ISSP standard background variables are being used additionally for a partial replication of the 1996 ISSP Module on "Role of Government" within the political project segment "Sociopolitical orientations of employees. Alignments, membership in and hostility to interest organizations and political parties".
Der Beitrag untersucht, wie im Verlauf der Staatsschuldenkrise seit Mai 2010 die Demokratie und d... more Der Beitrag untersucht, wie im Verlauf der Staatsschuldenkrise seit Mai 2010 die Demokratie und die soziale Gerechtigkeit – gemessen als sozialer Schutz und wohlfahrtsstaatliche Redistribution – in der Europaischen Union beschadigt wurde. Es wird argumentiert, dass eine Reihe von demokratisch kaum kontrollierten, aber in der Offentlichkeit weitgehend stillschweigend akzeptierten Grundsatzentscheidungen der europaischen Eliten viele Jahre nach dem Entscheidungszeitpunkt Strukturen und Abhangigkeiten geschaffen haben, die zu einer nahezu unvermeidlichen Verletzung der Demokratie auf nationaler und europaischer Ebene wie auch der sozialen Gerechtigkeit in Europa zwischen Nationen und sozialen Klassen gefuhrt haben. Was somit auf den ersten Blick als fundamentaler Zwang erscheint, ist nichts anderes als die Folge politischer Entscheidungen, zu denen es zum Entscheidungszeitpunkt durchaus akzeptable Alternativen gegeben hatte.
Journal of European Public Policy, 2017
Comparative European Politics
In times of contested globalization, democratic governments have increasing difficulties to recon... more In times of contested globalization, democratic governments have increasing difficulties to reconcile international obligations with domestic political demands. Unresponsiveness to domestic constituents due to international constraints may threaten to undermine democratic legitimacy. We assess how citizens react to non-responsive governments in the case of a high-stake direct-democratic vote in Switzerland. The 2014 referendum on restricting immigration from the European Union failed in its implementation because of the EU's refusal to negotiate the free movement rights of its citizens. How did Swiss citizens adapt their policy preferences to this implementation failure? Drawing on original survey data, we show that citizens overwhelmingly did not adapt their policy preferences; rather, they rationalized the implementation failure in an effort to protect their ideological and partisan orientations. The results suggests that governments face major challenges to convey constrained...
Given the decentralized political and administrative system of Switzerland, it is difficult to an... more Given the decentralized political and administrative system of Switzerland, it is difficult to answer the question of whether the government conducts effective sustainability checks within the framework of RIA.
Handbook of Research Methods and Applications in Political Science
Political Studies, 2021
How can we explain variation in demand for redistribution among cross-pressured voters? We argue ... more How can we explain variation in demand for redistribution among cross-pressured voters? We argue that redistributive preferences reflect an interaction between material self-interest and political ideology. The self-interest argument predicts growing opposition to redistribution as income increases, while the argument of ideologically driven preferences suggests that left-leaning citizens are more supportive of redistribution than right-leaning citizens. Focusing on cross-pressured voters, we expect that the difference in redistribution preferences between left- and right-leaning citizens is smaller at the bottom of the income hierarchy than at the top. Among the group of left-leaning citizens, the role of material self-interest is expected to be smaller than among right-leaning citizens. We provide evidence in line with our argument analysing data from the European Social Survey in 25 European democracies between 2008 and 2018.
… . Berne: University of Berne, Institute of …, 2001
Handbuch Sozialpolitik
In diesem Kapitel wird uber vier sozio-okonomische Veranderungen berichtet, die Herausforderungen... more In diesem Kapitel wird uber vier sozio-okonomische Veranderungen berichtet, die Herausforderungen fur den Wohlfahrtsstaat darstellen: Die Alterung unserer Gesellschaften, die De-Industrialisierung, das Abflachen des Wirtschaftswachstums und die steigende Einkommensungleichheit. In international vergleichender Perspektive wird gefragt, worin die Herausforderung fur den Wohlfahrtsstaat besteht, welches Ausmas diese Veranderung im zeitlichen Vergleich hat und wie Politik versucht, sie zu beeinflussen oder sozialpolitisch auf sie zu reagieren.
Global Social Policy, 2003
... Muffels, Panos Tsakloglou and David G. Mayes Restructuring the Welfare State Globalization an... more ... Muffels, Panos Tsakloglou and David G. Mayes Restructuring the Welfare State Globalization and Social Policy Reform in Finland and Sweden Virpi Timonen The Young, the Old and theState Social Care Systems in Five Industrial Nations Edited by Anneli Anttonen, John ...
European Journal of Political Research, 2014
The Great Recession that started in 2007/2008 has been the worst economic downturn since the cris... more The Great Recession that started in 2007/2008 has been the worst economic downturn since the crisis of the 1930s in Europe. It led to a major sovereign debt crisis, which is arguably the biggest challenge for the European Union (EU) and its common currency. Not since the 1950s have advanced democracies experienced such a dramatic external imposition of austerity and structural reform policies through interor supranational organisations such as the EU and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or as implicitly requested by international financial markets. Did this massive interference with the room for maneuver of parliaments and governments in many countries erode support for national democracy in the crisis since 2007? Did citizens realise that their national democratic institutions were no longer able to effectively decide on major economic and social policies, on economic and welfare state institutions? And did they react by concluding that this constrained democracy no longer merited further support? These are the questions guiding this article, which compares 26 EU countries in 2007-2011 and re-analyses 78 national surveys. Aggregate data from these surveys is analysed in a time-series cross-section design to examine changes in democratic support at the country level. The hypotheses also are tested at the individual level by estimating a series of cross-classified multilevel logistic regression models. Support for national democracy-operationalised as satisfaction with the way democracy works and as trust in parliament-declined dramatically during the crisis. This was caused both by international organisations and markets interfering with national democratic procedures and by the deteriorating situation of the national economy as perceived by individual citizens.
Comparative European Politics
In this article, we show that Next Generation EU (NGEU) is mainly a response to the economic and ... more In this article, we show that Next Generation EU (NGEU) is mainly a response to the economic and political imbalances left over from the Eurozone crisis. It is a pre-emptive intervention, especially targeted at structurally weak economies with rising Euroscepticism, to avoid costly ex-post bailouts as in the Great Recession. We demonstrate, using quantitative analysis, that pre-existing vulnerabilities, rather than the impact of the pandemic, drove the allocation of NGEU resources: per capita grants largely correspond to past economic vulnerabilities, as well as to political ones. Countries most vulnerable to another adjustment by austerity after the COVID-19 economic crisis receive most resources. Also, countries with strong anti-EU sentiments are entitled to larger NGEU grants per capita. In contrast, grants are not correlated with the severity of the health crisis. Then, we show the domestic relevance of economic and political vulnerabilities through qualitative case studies of n...