This book presents findings based on a unique source of insight into the role of human values--the World Values Survey and the European Values Survey, covering 78 societies containing over 80 per cent of the world's population. The findings reveal large and coherent cross-national differences in what people want out of life.
Four waves of surveys, from 1981 to 1999-2001, reveal the impact of changing values on societal phenomena. Evidence from eleven Islamic societies demonstrates that a distinctive Islamic culture exists-but the democratic ideal is endorsed overwhelmingly. Other analyses examine Gender Equality and Democracy; Corruption and Democracy; Social Capital in Vietnam; the Clash of Civilization; political satisfaction in global perspective; Trust in International Governance; and Israeli and South African values.
Ronald Inglehart is a Professor of Political Science and Program Director at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. He helped found the Euro-Barometer surveys and directs the World Values Surveys. He has authored over 170 publications.
"Ultimately, the most important product of (the World Values Survey) may be the insight that it produces concerning changes at the individual level that are transforming social, economic and political life. These changes are invisible until they are measured and analyzed through survey research, which has only recently begun to address them."
Notes on contributors
Introduction,
Ronald Inglehart
Islamic Culture and Democracy: Testing the ‘Clash of Civilizations’ Thesis,
Pippa Norriss and Ronald Inglehart
Is there an Islamic Civilization?
Yilmaz Esmer
The Worldviews of Islamic Publics: The Cases pf Egypt, Iran and Jordan,
Mansoor Moaddel and Taqhi Azadarmaki
Gender Equality and Democracy,
Ronald Inglehart, Pippa Norris and Christian Welzel
Value Priorities in Israeli Society: An Examination of Inglehart’s Theory of Modernization and Cultural Variation,
Ephraim Yuchtman-Ya’ar
Social Relations and Social Capital in Vietnam: Findings from the 2001 World Values Survey,
Russel J. Dalton, Pham Minh Hac, Pham Thanh Nghi and Nhu-Ngoc T. Ong
Authority Orientations and Political Support: A Cross-national Analysis of Satisfaction with Governments and Democracy,
Neil Nevitte and Mebs Kanji
Revising the Value Shift Hypothesis: A Descriptive Analysis of South Africa’s Value Priorities between 1990 and 2001,
Hennie Kotzé and Karin Lombard
Individual Values and Global Governance: A Comparative Analysis of Orientations towards the United Nations,
Thorleif Petterson
Two contradictory Hyptheses on Globalization: Societal Convergence or Civilization Differentiation and Clash,
Juan Díez-Nicholás
Corruption and Democracy: A Cultural Assessment,
Alejandro Moreno
Index
Sociologists, political scientists and psychologists interested in cross-cultural differences and social change; democracy, gender equality and Islamic societies.