Post-Materialist Values in Parliamentary Elites in Latin America

Transcription

1 Post-Materialist Values in Parliamentary Elites in Latin America By Ilka Treminio, ilkasal.es and Luis Melián, luis_meliánsal.es 1, University of Salamanca In the seventies, the sociologist, Ronald Inglehart, devised a set of concepts and indicators, in order to analyse the values of democratic industrialised societies and their transformations and, subsequently, to observe changes from a Materialist cultural trend to a cultural trend with Post-Materialist values. That is, from societal values focused on physical and economic security to values centred on freedom and autonomy, selfexpression and quality of life. The importance of highlighting the existence of these values lies in the fact that these values can, in the long term, bring about a re-structuring of the political cleavages and even a shift in the meaning of a region s traditional political division into Left and Right. However, it is important to note that, although there is still a relationship between Post- Materialist values and the strengthening of democratic politics, this does not mean that these values alone are enough to produce results of a democratic nature. In this sense, it would be appropriate to make reference to Diamond, Linz and Lipset (1989:2-10), according to whom the study of democracies in developing countries cannot ignore the historical factors affecting each country. Nevertheless, political culture is also a source of democracy as it encompasses different psychological orientations, deep-rooted values and beliefs about how political authority should be structured and how the individual relates to it. It is also true that there not only exists one political culture but that, in a single country, various political sub-cultures characterizing different social groups can be found (Morán, 1996). The seminal paper by Diamon, Linz and Lipset (1989) considers that there is a reciprocal relationship between political cultures and political systems. Democratic culture helps to 1 Translated by Silvia San Martín Rodríguez

2 maintain, and presses for, democracy. But, in historical terms, the election of democracy as a political regime is preceded by the support of the elites; nevertheless, these elites decide while influenced by a set of political values. Amongst the conclusions put forward by this study, it has been found that, in the Latin- American region, the development and maintenance of democracy have been facilitated by the elites values and behaviour, such as commitment, flexibility, tolerance, conciliation, moderation and self-control (Diamond, Linz and Lipset 1989:13). The concept of political culture is complex, but the assertion that democratic values do not contribute to democracy cannot actually be supported. For this reason, according to Abramson and Inglehart (1995:3), the spread of Post-Materialist values is empirically linked to democratization growth. The empirical research on Post-Materialist values and the so-called Silent Revolution carried out by the World Value Survey analyses societies of approximately 52 countries and shows that people s values and beliefs have changed in a way which has affected their political, economic, religious, environmental and sexual behaviour. In this line of thought, this study intends to investigate the Materialist and Post-Materialist values held by Latin- American legislators in continuous logic. This essay offers an insight into the search for these Post-Materialist values in parliamentary elites. In order to do so, an index of post-materiality was carried out among members of parliament. Subsequently, statistical analyses have been made to determine the presence of these values in the legislative power of each country. Thus, this study presents two essential objectives: to present a description of the region s political arena in terms of the legislators views in the Materialist/Post-Materialist dimension; and to offer possible explanations to the variance of the results obtained. The aforementioned will be considered from a micro-perspective, with an analysis on an individual basis, as well as from a macro-perspective, where the position of each legislative chamber will be the unit of analysis. This could present a problem of individualistic fallacy by inferring the nature of a collective actor the legislative chamber from individual results. Notwithstanding, as in most studies of political culture, this analysis will make use

3 of micro-variables in order to explain the variation between legislators and, in the case of collective actors, aggregate variables. The Legislative Post-Materialism Index (LPI) The Legislative Post-Materialism Index (LPI) has been created from responses given by 1550 legislators in various Latin-American countries. These responses were taken from surveys conducted for the project Élites Parlamentarias Latinoamericanas (Latin- American Parliamentary Elites) of the Ibero-American Institute of the University of Salamanca. In order to create the aforementioned index, a total of 28 indicators related to this thematic were used and recoded in order to be transformed into dichotomous variables, where value 0 indicates materialism and value 1 post-materialism 2. Subsequently, using an arithmetic aggregation model, the Legislative Post-Materialism Index is obtained. In the LPI, each legislator obtains a score between 0 and 1, where scores close to 0 reflect Materialist values, while scores closer to 1, Post-Materialism. The indicators used in this index were selected from descriptions concerning the theory of cultural change and modernization; that is, those indicators which directly measure the dimensions described by Inglehart (1990): 1) Economy: Although economic security continues to be a goal for people in Post- Materialist societies, it stops being the main goal. Thus, Post-Materialist societies lay more emphasis on freedom, self-expression and improving the quality of life. This means that Post-Materialists tend to de-emphasize economic growth and price control, and to support improvements in human development. Obviously, the 2 The indicators used are the following: advantages of a democratic regime; the importance given to the economic crisis, public safety, terrorism, poverty and exclusion from the process of democratic consolidation; the need for political parties in order to achieve democracy (this reflects opinions on participation models and political mobilisation); faith in the Catholic Church and the armed forces; the duties of the armed forces at present and their evaluation; preference between a state-run economy and a market economy; degree of state intervention regarding price control and creation of employment and the state s role as provider of pensions, public health and primary and university education; the importance placed on issues such as the stagnation of productive activity, inflation, crime, unemployment, public health, education, minority and environmental rights; and, finally, their positioning regarding abortion and divorce, as well as in terms of which areas of public expense should be increased in the state budget, was taken into account.

4 concept of Post-Materialism is much more complex and the basis used only provides proxy variables by means of which these values can be observed. 2) Security: Concerns over security, both economic and social, are one of the main elements in the conceptualization of Materialism. Thus, crime and/or terrorism control is one of the main focuses of attention in Materialist values. 3) Environment: Against these two previous dimensions, environment plays a key role in the Post-Materialist viewpoint. In this way, concerns over the environment, sustainable development and ecological awareness arise. 4) Politics: Post-Materialists tend to be more active in conventional politics but also when it comes to participate in and commit to political protests, social movements (peace movements, human rights and environmental groups, etc.) and different forms of citizen participation and non-conventional politics. As was indicated at the beginning of this paper, this analysis presents two objectives: a descriptive and an explanatory objective, both from a macro and a micro-perspective. The variables used as potential explanatory factors on an individual level are: religious belief (believer or non-believer), the level of education, gender and ideology. From a macroperspective (where the unit of analysis is each country s legislative chamber), the following have been taken into account: the level of inequality, measured according to the Gini coefficient; the level of human development, according to the Human Development Index (HDI), carried out by the UNDP; the Human Poverty Index (HPI-1); and each country s level of democracy according to the Democracy Index, carried out by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). Post-Materialist values of the elites (on an individual level)

5 An initial approach to the reality of the region presents, in terms of Post-Materialist values, an average of 0.55 with a standard deviation of 0.84; that is, legislators with intermediate views between the two poles of the analysed dimension (Table I). However, there is considerable variation among the legislators individual scores, where minimum values of 0.23 and maximum values of 0.85 in a scale between 0 and 1 were found. In order to observe which values could help to understand that variation on an individual level, a series of comparisons between the average results and the independent variables described has been drawn. Therefore, as Graph 1 demonstrates, it can be deduced that not being a believer means an increase of Post-Materialist scores in Latin-American legislators; the index average amongst non-believers is 0.62 while, in the case of believers, it decreases to It could be inferred from this that there is a relationship between religious belief and the Materialist/Post-Materialist dimension. And this seems to be so because religion has been linked, contrary to its original philosophy, to Materialist values such as security and employment, especially in Christian religions (Weber, 2003). Graph 1: The Materialist/Post-materialist dimension and religious belief Postmaterialists, Materialists, believer, non-believer

6 Source: compiled by authors based on data from the Latin-American Parliamentary Elites project ( ) Nevertheless, it would be worth mentioning that Post-Materialism has, at present, not broken free from religion but is linked to religious values of a more spiritual nature, less ceremonial and institutionalised. Nonetheless, the direction of this relationship is theoretically controversial. As such, theories of modernization suggest that economic and political changes go hand in hand with cultural development. Also, human development processes have significant consequences on religiousness, given that the conditions for an increase in security, which usually accompany these processes, tend to reduce religious values (Inglehart and Norris, 2004:18). Within this same perspective, variables regarding gender and level of education seem to follow the same trend, as shown by Graphs 2 and 3. Being a man or a woman does not imply a higher or lower degree of Post-Materialism and, therefore, gender is not a variable to consider when discriminating values in the variation. This trend has been previously discussed by psychological literature, seeing that femininity values seem to reflect more Post-Materialist values, whereas masculinity is linked to Materialist aspects. Hence, according to Hofstede (1999) feminine values emphasize cooperation and social support and, most likely, reinforce expressivity; while masculinity stresses material rewards, thus reinforcing instrumentality. Yet, this assumption is highly dangerous as masculinity and femininity should not be confused with the individual s gender, since both aspects coexist within each individual. Thus, the measurement used in the present study concerns the gender of the legislators and not their level of femininity and/or masculinity.

7 Graph 2: The Materialist/Post-Materialist dimension and gender Postmaterialists, Materialists, male, female Source: compiled by authors based on data from the Latin-American Parliamentary Elites project ( ) Additionally, the level of education of congress people is not a variable with enough explanatory force either, despite the fact that a slight trend can be observed in the data. In this respect, legislators with primary or secondary studies and those who hold higher studies present a higher predisposition toward Materialism (0.547 and respectively); while those members of parliament with no studies have a higher tendency toward Post- Materialist values (0.570). This seems counterintuitive, as the legislators expected to show values closer to Post-Materialism are those with a higher level of education, as literature has argued (Kidd and Lee 1997). Be that as it may, those without higher education can achieve higher scores than those with qualifications when there is a link between the respondents and a rural, community background, where values such as social welfare, equality are highly regarded*. This statement, however, should be analysed further by researching whether the lack of education in the population sector analysed is indeed linked to a rural or indigenous background.

8 Graph 3: The Materialist/Post-Materialist dimension and the level of education Postmaterialists, Materialists, No education, Primary/Secondary Education, Higher Education Source: compiled by authors based on data from the Latin-American Parliamentary Elites project ( ) Finally, ideology is the only non socio-demographic variable which presents a real explanatory force in the Post-Materialist values of Latin-American legislators. Graph 4 shows how, depending on the legislators inclination to the Right, the average scores approach more Materialist values, going from 0.60 in left-wing members of parliament to 0.49 in right-wing legislators. This, in turn, is reinforced by the results of the bivariate correlation analysis carried out (negative correlation coefficient, , and a significant correlation at a level of 0.05). This result coincides with other studies carried out in Europe on the existing link between the Post-Materialist and ideological cleavages. These studies show a strong relationship within Western Europe between both dimensions, where the Left is closely linked to Post-Materialist values (Crum 2005:5). Furthermore, the trend amongst people with Post-Materialist values is generally one of support for left-wing parties, most

9 likely as a result of their more progressive approach to issues which the Right approaches from an ideologically more conservative perspective (Abramson, Inglehart, 1995). Graph 4: The Materialist/Post-Materialist dimension and ideology Postmaterialists, Materialists, Left, Centre-left, Centre, Centre-right, Right Source: compiled by authors based on data from the Latin-American Parliamentary Elites project ( ) Post-Materialist values of the elites according to country (macro-level) As was mentioned before, the second part of this paper includes aggregate data, in order to determine whether there is a relationship between Post-Materialism and human development, inequality, poverty and democracy indexes. Graph 5 shows the scores, according to the Legislative Post-Materialism Index, obtained by each of the 17 Latin-American countries analysed. The countries with the most Post- Materialist parliamentary elite are Uruguay (0.61), Nicaragua (0.60), Chile (0.58) and Peru (0.57); while the most Materialist are Panama, El Salvador, Honduras and Colombia (with an average value of 0.52).

10 In this case, the expected behaviour, in accordance with the theory of cultural change and modernization (Inglehart, 1990), is that those countries with a higher development, democracy, equality and material welfare indexes are the most Post-Materialist; i.e., with priorities which go from material to spiritual goods. Graph 5: Index of Legislative Post-materialism (IPL) per country Postmaterialists, Materialists, Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Rep., Uruguay Source: compiled by authors based on data from the Latin-American Parliamentary Elites project ( ) As this table shows (Table 1), the country which best represents that relationship is Uruguay, with a high index of Post-Materialism (0.61), the third highest HDI, a relatively low HPI and the second lowest Gini coefficient of the region; Uruguay also has a stable and consolidated democracy. The other case in which behaviour coincides is Chile. It is interesting to note that Argentina and Costa Rica, which have high average scores for social, political and economic development in the region, are classified in the index as Materialist. These two cases are opposed to the afore-mentioned theory. Consequently, there is no significant statistical relationship between all these variables and the Materialist/Post-Materialist dimension. The index which is closer to the relevance of the

11 correlation coefficient is the Gini coefficient or coefficient of inequality (0.071); that is, that those countries with less inequality show more tendency toward Post-Materialist values. This would explain the case of Nicaragua, which constitutes the second most Post- Materialist of our index; it is, at the same time, the least unequal of the whole of Latin- America but, undoubtedly, one of the poorest and shows low political and social performance. This is why, although it figures in the Post-Materialist category, it does not fulfil all the theoretical conditions to explain a shift in priorities from material to spiritual welfare and self-expression values. On the other hand, it could be argued that its high LPI is due to its revolutionary tradition, which has provided its legislative bodies with values which are not merely material but more in agreement with self-expression. As a result, it can be argued that, although independent variables do not coincide with the theory, Post-Materialism in Nicaragua s parliamentary elite could be related to historical and political factors. Notwithstanding, it is important to insist on the fact that this statistical analysis is merely for guidance, as the small number of available cases does not allow us to carry out a conclusive statistical analysis. Table 1: Post-Materialist values, human development, inequality, poverty and democracy per country.

12 Country, LPI, HDI, GINI, Dem. Index, HPI Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Rep., Uruguay Source: compiled by authors based on data from the Latin-American Parliamentary Elites project ( ) Gini: HDI and HPI-1:

13 Democracy Index: Conclusions As a conclusion, some of the most relevant findings of this analysis are put forward. Some authors warned that the shift from Materialism to Post-Materialism, following the national modernization processes which have taken place in various countries, has been one of the most important cultural changes of the end of the last century and the beginning of the current one. These changes imply a transformation in the citizens perspectives in relation to issues such as security and economy, where self-expression, concerns for the environment and social welfare go on to becoming topics which stir up more interest. The present study, of a synchronic nature, does not allow us to observe the changes occurring on a long-term basis, but it does allow us to describe these countries present situation regarding a shift of values. Thus, a general outlook has been given where legislators show intermediate viewpoints in the Materialist/Post-Materialist dimension despite a wide variation; this variation increases even more if data on an aggregate level per country are taken into account (as it is the case of Uruguay and Panama, with the highest and lowest values of LPI in the whole region, respectively). In order to find possible causes, which could help us understand these variations, a series of statistical analyses has been carried out and the main conclusions reached are as follows: on an individual level, ideology is the key variable as opposed to other socio-demographic variables which have no explanatory force, despite suggesting some relationships with the dependent variable. Ideology presents a strong relationship with Post-Materialism. This relationship is inverse by nature, which means that the more we approach the ideological Right, the lower the index score is. This means that someone with left-wing views has more Post-Materialist viewpoints than someone with right-wing views. This finding seems to be in complete agreement with the theory and the studies carried out in Europe on the same theme.

14 In terms of findings on an aggregate level, and once again noting its shortcomings due to the low number of cases in the analysis (17 countries), it seems striking that the only significant variable is the level of inequality. This result, although satisfactory in terms of reflecting the importance of social structure in cultural changes, poses some questions which could be tackled in future research; since, for example, the role played by another key variable in literature, such as the level of human development (closely related to modernization processes) remains unclear. Bibliography -Abramson, P. and Inglehart, R. (1995) Value Change in Global perspective. University of Michigan Press. -Crum, B. (2005) Competition and Collusion of Party Strategies in Referendums on the EU Constitution. Paper for the conference Causes and Consequences. July 1-2, 2005, Amsterdam. -Diamond, L.; Linz, J. and Lipset, S. (1989) Democracy in Developing. Countries: Latin America. Volume four. Lynne Rienner. -Hofstede, G. (1999) Culturas y organizaciones. El software mental. Madrid: Alianza Editorial. -Inglehart, R. (1990) Culture Shift. Princeton University Press: New Jersey -Kidd, Q. y A. Lee. Postmaterialist Values and Environment. A critique and reappraisal. In: Social Science Quartely 78 (1): Morán, M.L. (1996) Sociedad, cultura y política: continuidad y novedad en el análisis cultural. In: M.C. Morán (comp.): Zona Abierta. Nº , pp

15 -Norris, P. e Inglehart, R. (2004) Sacred and Secular. Religion and Politics Worldwide. Cambrigde University Press. -Weber, M. (2003) La ética protestante y el espíritu del capitalismo, Fondo de Cultura Económica. Previous Bulletins - Los diputados latinoamericanos y su preocupación por la conflictividad, by Claire Wright, University of Salamanca, n. I-09, March La nueva dinámica de las relaciones entre América Latina y la República popular China, by Inés Amezaga, University of Salamanca, n. 2-09, March El rol representativo de los legisladores latinoamericanos. Qué intereses defienden y cómo actúan?, by Vanesa Valverde, University of Salamanca, n.3-09, April Las mujeres en los parlamentos latinoamericanos, by Michelle Fernández, University of Salamanca, n. 4-09, April Vínculos programáticos e ideológicos en la elección de los diputados latinoamericanos, by Ana Belén Benito, University of Salamanca, n.5-09, May Jóvenes políticos en los parlamentos latinoamericanos, by María García, University of Salamanca, n.6-09, May 2009.

16 - Percepciones de las elites parlamentarias hacia los partidos políticos en América Latina, by Lina María Cabezas, University of Salamanca, n.7-09, June Explorando algunos vínculos entre la calidad de la democracia y las élites parlamentarias en América Latina, by Alejandro Belmonte, University of Salamanca, n.8-09, June La representación territorial en los parlamentos latinoamericanos, by Ariel Sribman, University of Salamanca, n.9-09, July (Des) confianza en los organismos y procesos electorales en América Latina, by Diego Brenes, University of Salamanca, n.10-09, July Un intento de explicación de la crisis de Honduras de 2009 desde la mirada de sus legisladores, by Manuel Alcántara, University of Salamanca, n.11-09, August El vínculo entre los parlamentarios latinoamericanos y los medios de comunicación, by Maria Laura Tagina, University of Salamanca, n.12-09, September Distinción ideológica en las élites latinoamericanas, by Lucía Selios, University of Salamanca, n.13-09, October La organización de los partidos políticos latinoamericanos. Una mirada desde sus niveles de vida partidista, by Nadia Jimena Pérez Guevara, University of Salamanca, n.14-09, November 2009.

17 - Control parlamentario en América Latina, by Cecilia G. Rodríguez, University of Salamanca, n.15-09, December Disciplina parlamentaria en América Latina en opinión de los legisladores, by Luis Antonio González Tule, University of Salamanca, n.16-10, January La democracia interna de los partidos vista por los legisladores, by Verónica Álvarez, University of Salamanca, n.17-10, February Clivajes y polarización ideológica de los legisladores de América Latina, by Isabel Iguanzo, University of Salamanca, n.18-10, March Los legisladores hondureños un año después, by Manuel Alcántara, University of Salamanca, n.19-10, August Desarrollo humano y elites parlamentarias en América Latina, by Michelle Fernández, University of Salamanca, n.20-10, September 2010.