Democracy and Elections seminar: Professor Tim Hellwig (Indiana University)
| Dates: | 28 June 2016 |
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| Times: | 15:00 - 16:30 |
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| What is it: | Seminar |
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| Organiser: | School of Social Sciences |
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| Speaker: | Tim Hellwig |
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June 28th 3.00 – 4.30 pm Arthur Lewis Building G.035/36
“Public Perceptions of Risk and Insecurity in the Wake of the Great Recession”
Professor Tim Hellwig (Indiana University)
Abstract: In recent years, a host of structural factors have upset politics in advanced capitalist societies. The culprits include globalization and deindustrialization, dualization of labor markets, and demographic pressures linked to immigration and the ageing of the population. For voters in these democracies, the cumulative effect of structural change has been an increase in insecurity as the politics of the present and future appear very different than that which preceded it. Researchers have shown that the insecure and the risk-averse differ from those who have a sense of security with respect to policy preferences and political dispositions. We know less, however, about what shapes perceptions of insecurity and risk. What drives these individual-level perceptions? We consider three broad possibilities. The first is economics. Recent increases in macro-economic volatility may contribute to a sense of insecurity. The second are public safety nets designed to guard against risk. And the third are the individuals’ own protections against risk owing to occupation, income, assets, and skills. The effects of objective risk factors on subjective assessments of insecurity are assessed with data from Comparative Study for Electoral Systems. By assessing the relative contribution of economic conditions, welfare protections, and individual-level safeguards, this paper advances our understanding of the bases of mass politics in post-crisis democracies.
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G035/36
Arthur Lewis Building
Manchester
