Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-13T14:28:20.344Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Antidiscrimination Laws, Policy Knowledge and Political Support

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 September 2017

Conrad Ziller  and
Marc Helbling
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study investigates how antidiscrimination policy and related policy knowledge influence citizens’ support for the democratic system and its institutions. The article argues that antidiscrimination measures and knowledge about rights to equal treatment foster perceptions of government responsiveness, which increase political support among target groups and citizens who advocate egalitarianism. Utilizing a longitudinal design and more valid measures to resolve causality issues, the results of the empirical models show that increases in policy knowledge over time systematically predict higher political support, especially among individuals who hold egalitarian values. Individuals who are discriminated against express particularly high political support in contexts where antidiscrimination laws are expanded. Overall, the results amplify the role of policy knowledge as a key factor in studying policy feedback effects.

Keywords

antidiscrimination policypolicy knowledgediscriminationpolicy effectspolicy feedbackpolitical support
Type
Articles
Information
British Journal of Political Science , Volume 49 , Issue 3 , July 2019 , pp. 1027 - 1044
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

University of Cologne, Institute of Sociology and Social Psychology and Cologne Center for Comparative Politics (email: ziller@wiso.uni-koeln.de); University of Bamberg, Department of Political Science and WZB Berlin Social Science Center (email: marc.helbling@uni-bamberg.de). A previous version of this article was presented at the 2016 American Political Science Association meeting. The authors would like to thank Sarah Carol, Sara Wallace Goodman, Laura Katz Olson, Isabelle Stadelmann-Steffen and Markus Wagner, as well as the anonymous reviewers and Shaun Bowler for valuable comments and suggestions. This study uses data from the 2013 release of the anonymized EU Labour Force Survey, provided by the European Commission, Eurostat. Eurostat has no responsibility for the results and/or conclusions of this study. Data replication sets are available in Harvard Dataverse at: https://dx.doi.org/10.7910/DVN/MG11FA and online appendices are available at https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123417000163.

References

Allison, Paul D. 2009. Fixed Effects Regression Models. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Altonji, Joseph G., and Blank, Rebecca M.. 1999. Race and Gender in the Labor Market. In Handbook of Labor Economics, edited by Orley Ashenfelter and David Card, 3143–3259. Amsterdam: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Amiraux, Valérie, and Guiraudon, Virginie. 2010. Discrimination in Comparative Perspective: Policies and Practices. American Behavioral Scientist 53 (12):1691–1714.Google Scholar
Andersen, Jørgen G. 1992. Sources of Welfare-State Support in Denmark: Self-Interest or Way of Life? International Journal of Sociology 22 (4):25–48.Google Scholar
Barrett, Martyn, and Brunton-Smith, Ian. 2014. Political and Civic Engagement and Participation: Towards an Integrative Perspective. Journal of Civil Society 10 (1):5–28.Google Scholar
Bell, Mark. 2008. The Implementation of European Anti-Discrimination Directives: Converging towards a Common Model? The Political Quarterly 79 (1):36–44.Google Scholar
Blinder, Scott, Ford, Robert, and Ivarsflaten, Elisabeth. 2013. The Better Angels of Our Nature: How the Antiprejudice Norm Affects Policy and Party Preferences in Great Britain and Germany. American Journal of Political Science 57 (4):841–857.Google Scholar
Campbell, Andrea L. 2003. How Policies Make Citizens: Senior Political Activism and the American Welfare State. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Campbell, Andrea L.. 2012. Policy Makes Mass Politics. Annual Review of Political Science 15:333–351.Google Scholar
Citrin, Jack, Levy, Morris, and Wright, Matthew. 2014. Multicultural Policy and Political Support in European Democracies. Comparative Political Studies 47 (11):1531–1557.Google Scholar
Cook, Fay Lomax, R. Jacobs, Lawrence, and Kim, Dukhong. 2010. Trusting what you know: Information, knowledge, and confidence in Social Security. The Journal of Politics 72 (2):397–412.Google Scholar
Craig, Stephen C., Niemi, Richard G., and Silver, Glenn E.. 1990. Political Efficacy and Trust: A Report on the NES Pilot Study Items. Political Behavior 12 (3):289–314.Google Scholar
Curini, Luigi, Jou, Willy, and Memoli, Vincenzo. 2012. Satisfaction with democracy and the winner/loser debate: The role of policy preferences and past experience. British Journal of Political Science 42 (2):241–261.Google Scholar
Delli Carpini, Michael X., and Keeter, Scott.. 1996. What Americans Know About Politics and Why it Matters. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Druckman, James N., Fein, Jordan, and Leeper, Thomas J.. 2012. A Source of Bias in Public Opinion Stability. American Political Science Review 106 (2):430–454.Google Scholar
Duguet, Emmanuel, Du Parquet, Loïc, L’horty, Yannick, and Petit, Pascale. 2015. New Evidence of Ethnic and Gender Discriminations in the French Labor Market Using Experimental Data: A Ranking Extension of Responses from Correspondence Tests. Annals of Economics and Statistics (117–118):21–39.Google Scholar
Easton, David. 1965. A Framework for Political Analysis. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Easton, David. 1975. A Re-assessment of the Concept of Political Support. British Journal of Political Science 5 (4):435–457.Google Scholar
Ellis, Evelyn, and Watson, Philippa.. 2012. EU Anti-discrimination Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Enders, Craig K., and Tofighi, Davood. 2007. Centering Predictor Variables in Cross-sectional Multilevel Models: A New Look at an Old Issue. Psychological Methods 12 (2):121–138.Google Scholar
European Commission. 2008. Discrimination in the European Union: Summary. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.Google Scholar
European Commission. 2014. Joint Report on the Application of Council Directive 2000/43/EC and of Council Directive 2000/78/EC. Available from ec.europa.eu/justice/discrimination/files/com_2014_2_en.pdf, accessed 14 May 2015.Google Scholar
Eurostat. 2013. European Commission, 2013 Release of Anonymised EU LFS Microdata. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.Google Scholar
Ezrow, Lawrence, and Xezonakis, Georgios. 2011. Citizen satisfaction with democracy and parties’ policy offerings. Comparative Political Studies 44 (9):1152–1178.Google Scholar
Fairbrother, Malcolm. 2014. Two Multilevel Modeling Techniques for Analyzing Comparative Longitudinal Survey Datasets. Political Science Research and Methods 2 (1):119–140.Google Scholar
Galston, William A. 2001. Political knowledge, Political Engagement, and Civic Education. Annual Review of Political Science 4:217–234.Google Scholar
Giger, Nathalie, and Nelson, Moira. 2011. The Electoral Consequences of Welfare State Retrenchment: Blame Avoidance or Credit Claiming in the Era of Permanent Austerity? European Journal of Political Research 50 (1):1–23.Google Scholar
Gingrich, Jane. 2014. Structuring the Vote: Welfare Institutions and Value-Based Vote Choices. In How Welfare States Shape the Democratic Public: Policy Feedback, Participation, Voting, and Attitudes, edited by Staffan Kumlin and Isabelle Stadelmann-Steffen, 93–112. Cheltenham, UK and Northampton, USA: Edward Elgar Publishing.Google Scholar
Givens, Terri E., and Evans Case, Rhonda. 2014. Legislating Equality: The Politics of Antidiscrimination Policy in Europe. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Golder, Matt, and Stramski, Jacek. 2010. Ideological Congruence and Electoral Institutions. American Journal of Political Science 54 (1):90–106.Google Scholar
Hetherington, Marc J. 1998. The Political Relevance of Political Trust. American Political Science Review 92 (4):791–808.Google Scholar
Hobolt, Sara B., and Klemmensen, Robert. 2008. Government Responsiveness and Political Competition in Comparative Perspective. Comparative Political Studies 41 (3):309–337.Google Scholar
Hooghe, Marc, Marien, Sofie, and Oser, Jennifer. 2016. Great Expectations: The Effect of Democratic Ideals on Political Trust in European Democracies. Contemporary Politics 23 (2):1–17.Google Scholar
Huddleston, Thomas, Bilgili, Ozge, Anne-Linde, Joki and Zvezda, Vankova. 2015. Migrant Integration Policy Index 2015. Barcelona/Brussels: CIDOB and MPG. Available from http://www.mipex.eu, accessed 20 October 2015.Google Scholar
Kaas, Leo, and Manger, Christian. 2012. Ethnic Discrimination in Germany’s Labour Market: A Field Experiment. German Economic Review 13 (1):1–20.Google Scholar
Katz, Irwin, and Hass, R. G.. 1988. Racial Ambivalence and American Value Conflict: Correlational and Priming Studies of Dual Cognitive Structures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 55 (6):893–905.Google Scholar
Kumlin, Staffan. 2014. Policy Feedback in Political Context: Unemployment Benefits, Election Campaigns, and Democratic Satisfaction. In How Welfare States Shape the Democratic Public: Policy Feedback, Participation, Voting, and Attitudes, edited by Staffan Kumlin and Isabelle Stadelmann-Steffen, 181–197. Cheltenham, UK; Northampton, USA: Edward Elgar Publishing.Google Scholar
Kumlin, Staffan, and Stadelmann-Steffen, Isabelle. 2014. Citizens, Policy Feedback, and European Welfare States. In How Welfare States Shape the Democratic Public: Policy Feedback, Participation, Voting, and Attitudes, edited by Staffan Kumlin and Isabelle Stadelmann-Steffen, 1–16. Cheltenham, UK; Northampton, USA: Edward Elgar Publishing.Google Scholar
Lewis-Beck, Michael S., and Paldam, Martin. 2000. Economic Voting: An Introduction. Electoral Studies 19 (2):113–121.Google Scholar
Marien, Sofie, and Hooghe, Marc. 2011. Does Political Trust Matter? An Empirical Investigation into the Relation between Political Trust and Support for Law Compliance. European Journal of Political Research 50 (2):267–291.Google Scholar
Mettler, Suzanne. 2002. Bringing the State Back In to Civic Engagement: Policy Feedback Effects of the G.I. Bill for World War II Veterans. American Political Science Review 96 (2):351–365.Google Scholar
Mettler, Suzanne. 2015. Twenty Years On: Paul Pierson’s Dismantling the Welfare State? PS: Political Science & Politics 48 (2):270–273.Google Scholar
Mettler, Suzanne, and Soss, Joe. 2004. The Consequences of Public Policy for Democratic Citizenship: Bridging Policy Studies and Mass Politics. Perspectives on Politics 2 (1):55–73.Google Scholar
Norris, Pippa. 1999. Critical Citizens: Global Support for Democratic Government. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Pierson, Paul. 1993. When Effect Becomes Cause: Policy Feedback and Political Change. World Politics 45 (4):595–628.Google Scholar
Powell, G. B. 2004. Political Representation in Comparative Politics. Annual Reviews in Political Science 7 (1):273–296.Google Scholar
Preacher, Kristopher J., Zyphur, Michael J., and Zhang, Zhen. 2010. A General Multilevel SEM Framework for Assessing Multilevel Mediation. Psychological Methods 15 (3):209–233.Google Scholar
Reher, Stefanie. 2015. Explaining Cross-national Variation in the Relationship between Priority Congruence and Satisfaction with Democracy. European Journal of Political Research 54 (1):160–181.Google Scholar
Röder, Antje, and Mühlau, Peter. 2012. Low Expectations or Different Evaluations: What Explains Immigrants’ High Levels of Trust in Host-Country Institutions? Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 38 (5):777–792.Google Scholar
Rooth, Dan-Olof, and Ekberg, Jan. 2003. Unemployment and Earnings for Second Generation Immigrants in Sweden. Ethnic Background and Parent Composition. Journal of Population Economics 16 (4):787–814.Google Scholar
Schildkraut, DeborahJ. 2005. The Rise and Fall of Political Engagement among Latinos: The Role of Identity and Perceptions of Discrimination. Political Behavior 27 (3):285–312.Google Scholar
Schmidt-Catran, Alexander W., and Fairbrother, Malcolm. 2016. The Random Effects in Multilevel Models: Getting Them Wrong and Getting Them Right. European Sociological Review 32 (1):23–38.Google Scholar
Schmitt, Michael T., and Branscombe, Nyla R.. 2002. The Meaning and Consequences of Perceived Discrimination in Disadvantaged and Privileged Social Groups. European Review of Social Psychology 12 (1):167–199.Google Scholar
Seyd, Ben. 2015. How do Citizens Evaluate Public Officials? The Role of Performance and Expectations on Political Trust. Political Studies 63:73–90.Google Scholar
Snijders, Tom A. B., and Bosker, Roel J.. 2012. Multilevel Analysis: An Introduction to Basic and Advanced Multilevel Modeling. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.Google Scholar
Soss, Joe. 1999. Lessons of Welfare: Policy Design, Political Learning, and Political Action. American Political Science Review 93 (2):363–380.Google Scholar
Thompson, Neil. 2016. Anti-discriminatory Practice: Equality, Diversity and Social Justice. London: Palgrave.Google Scholar
Van der Meer, Tom, and Hakhverdian, Armen. 2017. Political Trust as the Evaluation of Process and Performance: A Cross-National Study of 42 European Countries. Political Studies 65 (1):81–102.Google Scholar
Walker, Alan, and Walker, Carol. 1998. Age or Disability? Age-based Disparities in Service Provision for Older People with Intellectual Disabilities in Great Britain. Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability 23 (1):25–39.Google Scholar
Welzel, Christian, and Dalton, Russell J.. 2014. From Allegiant to Assertive Citizens. In The Civic Culture Transformed: From Allegiant to Assertive Citizens, edited by R. Dalton and C. Welzel, 282–306. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Wlezien, Christopher, and Soroka, Stuart N.. 2012. Political Institutions and the Opinion–Policy Link. West European Politics 35 (6):1407–1432.Google Scholar
Ziller, Conrad. 2014. Societal Implications of Antidiscrimination Policy in Europe. Research & Politics 1 (3):1–9.Google Scholar
Ziller, Conrad, and Helbling, Marc. 2017. Replication data for: Anti-discrimination Laws, Policy Knowledge and Political Support. doi: 10.7910/DVN/MG11FA., Harvard Dataverse, V2.Google Scholar
Ziller, Conrad, and Schübel, Thomas. 2015. ‘The Pure People’ Versus ‘The Corrupt Elite’? Political Corruption, Political Trust and the Success of Radical Right Parties in Europe. Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties 25 (3):368–386.Google Scholar
Zukin, Cliff, Keeter, Scott, Andolina, Molly, Jenkins, Krista, and Carpini, Michael X. D.. 2006. A New Engagement? Political Participation, Civic Life, and the Changing American Citizen. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: Link

Ziller and Helbling Dataset

Dataset

https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/MG11FA
Link
Supplementary material: PDF

Ziller and Helbling supplementary material

Online Appendix

Download Ziller and Helbling supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 164.4 KB