Worlds of Welfare and Attitudes to Redistribution: A Comparison of Eight Western Nations

Abstract

In this paper attitudes to redistribution in eight Western nations are analysed, using data from the International Social Survey Program (ISSP). The paper begins with a discussion of various regime types as presented by Esping-Andersen and Castles and Mitchell, among others. Countries are then chosen to represent four twin pairs of countries, approximating four worlds of welfare capitalism : the social democratic (Sweden/Norway), the conservative (Germany/Austria), the liberal (US/ Canada), and the radical (Australia/New Zealand). The empirical analysis assesses whether attitudes to redistribution and income differences are structured in the way suggested by the discussion of different cleavage structures in various regime types. It is concluded that while the level of attitudes regarding redistribution and income differences clearly is affected by regime type, group patterns are very similar between all the countries