<aside> ❓ Q. Why are some people more supportive of redistribution and welfare spending than others? Q. Do welfare states depend on a sense of social solidarity between rich and poor and between ethnic majorities and minorities?

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Avdagic, Sabina, and Lee Savage. 2019. “Negativity Bias: the Impact of Framing of Immigration on Welfare State Support in Germany, Sweden and the UK.” British Journal of Political Science.

• Research Focus: Examines how framing immigration (positively or negatively) influences support for the welfare state.
• Key Concept: Draws on psychology, particularly negativity bias and the sequencing of negative and positive information.
• Main Findings:
  • Negative immigration frames significantly undermine support for welfare.
  • Positive immigration frames have little to no effect on welfare support.
  • Individuals pay less attention to positive frames, and their impact is further weakened by prior exposure to negative frames, which linger longer in people's minds.
• Methodology: Survey experiments involving over 9,000 individuals in Germany, Sweden, and the UK.
• Amplified Effects: The negative impact of immigration framing is stronger for individuals who:
  • Hold anti-immigrant attitudes,
  • Hold anti-welfare attitudes, or
  • Feel economically insecure.
• Conclusion: Negative framing has a strong and pervasive effect on reducing welfare support, while positive framing is ineffective in boosting welfare support in any of the three countries studied.

Garritzmann, Julian L, Erik Neimanns, and Marius R Busemeyer. 2021. ‘Public Opinion towards Welfare State Reform: The Role of Political Trust and Government Safisfacfion’. European Journal of Political Research.

• Research Focus: Explores the conditions under which citizens are willing to accept future-oriented welfare state reforms.
• Context: The traditional welfare state, designed for industrialization, is ill-equipped to address challenges in post-industrial knowledge economies.
• Key Factors:
  • Citizens’ trust in government and satisfaction with government play a crucial role in reform acceptance.
  • Trust and satisfaction help attenuate uncertainties, risks, and costs associated with future-oriented reforms.
• Methodology:
  • Experiments conducted in a representative survey across eight European countries.
  • European Social Survey data from 22 countries.
• Key Findings:
  • Trust in government and government satisfaction increase support for reforms.
  • These factors also moderate the effects of self-interest and ideological standpoints on reform support.

Lupu, Noam, and Jonas Pontusson. 2011. “The Structure of Inequality and the Politics of Redistribution.” American Political Science Review 105(02): 316–336

• Research Focus: Challenges the current consensus in comparative political economy by arguing that the structure of inequality (not just the level) shapes redistributive politics in advanced capitalist societies.