A SHIFT FROM THE RIGHT TO THE LEFT AS AN INDICATOR OF VALUE CHANGE: A BATTLE FOR THE CLIMATE OF OPINION

Starting with observations about the abandonment of bourgeois values in the late 1960s and early 1970s, a shift of political orientations towards the left, and a correspondence of left-right orientation with certain values, the article identifies basic components of both orientations and pursues the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of public opinion research 1998, Vol.10 (4), p.317-334
Main Author: Noelle-Neumann, Elisabeth
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attitudes
Change
Equality
Federal Republic of Germany
Freedom
Germany
Left
Left Wing Politics
Leftist
Political Affiliation
Political aspects
Political cleavages
Political opinions
Politics
Public Opinion
Right
Right and left (Political science)
Right Wing Politics
Rightist
Social justice
Social Values
Value
Value Orientations
Value systems
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Summary:Starting with observations about the abandonment of bourgeois values in the late 1960s and early 1970s, a shift of political orientations towards the left, and a correspondence of left-right orientation with certain values, the article identifies basic components of both orientations and pursues the question of how self-placement on the left-right scale and the priorities attached to equality and social justice on the one hand, and decision-making freedom on the other, have developed in Germany since the mid-1970s. Results indicate that a leftward shift in the climate of opinion, such as occurred in Germany, will have a serious impact on the value system of a society. The fundamental contrast between the values of freedom and equality is identified as being at the root of the left-right division and its corresponding value systems. ‘He was convinced that there is a real contradiction between freedom and equality. That there can be a socialist path, which says that equality is important, and there can be a liberal path, which contends that freedom has top priority. Anyone who believes he or she can create harmony between the two without any contradictions is mistaken. Either we pay with our freedom or with equality. He was convinced that the choice between the two is of existential significance.’ The Israeli journalist Avishai Margalit on his friend, the philosopher Isaiah Berlin of Oxford. Quoted from: Frankfurter Rundschau, December 6, 1997.
ISSN:0954-2892
1471-6909
DOI:10.1093/ijpor/10.4.317