CONCERN FOR THE ENVIRONMENT: A CROSS-NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Data from the International Social Survey Program indicate considerable variation in the desire of respondents for increased spending on the environment in Australia, Austria, Great Britain, the United States, and West Germany. This paper explores this variation with the following objectives: (1) to determine the extent to which the social bases of environmental concern are consistent across nations; (2) to determine how the issue of the environment has been politicized in the five industrialized nations, focusing on the association of Old Leftist concerns and environmental concern; and (3) to determine the extent to which the social bases of environmental concern can explain the cross-national variation. The study usesa regression analysis, testing variables representing the social bases of environmental concern from past research in the United States, a scale representing commitment to the platform of the Old Left, and dummy variables for each country. The results show that the social bases of environmental concern are the same in the five countries studied, including a consistent positive association of Old Leftism with environmental concern. However, substantial variation between countries in the overall level of concern remains. Potential sources of the remaining variation are examined.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: