This book contends that beneath the frenzied activism of the sixties and the seeming quiescence of the seventies, a "silent revolution" has been occurring that is gradually but fundamentally changing political life throughout the Western world. Ronald Inglehart focuses on two aspects of this revolution: a shift from an overwhelming emphasis on material values and physical security toward greater concern with the quality of life; and an increase in the political skills of Western publics that enables them to play a greater role in making important political decisions.
Originally published in 1977.
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The Silent Revolution
Changing Values and Political Styles Among Western Publics
By Ronald InglehartPRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
Copyright © 1977 Princeton University Press
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-691-07585-3Contents
List of Figures and Tables, ix,
Preface, xiii,
Part I: Introduction, 1,
1 Changing Values and Skills Among Western Publics: An Overview, 3,
Part II: Value Change, 19,
2 The Nature of Value Change, 21,
3 Sources of Value Change, 72,
4 Stability and Change in Value Priorities, 99,
5 Values, Objective Needs, and the Subjective Quality of Life, 116,
6 Subjective Satisfaction: Cross-Cultural and Cross-Temporal Variations, 149,
Part III: Political Cleavages, 177,
7 Political Cleavages in Industrial Society, 179,
8 Pre-Industrial and Post-Industrial Political Cleavages, 216,
9 Multi-variate Analysis of Political Cleavages, 244,
10 The Post-Materialist Phenomenon, 262,
Part IV: Cognitive Mobilization, 291,
11 Cognitive Mobilization and Political Participation Among Western Publics, 293,
12 Parochialism, Nationalism, and Supra-nationalism, 322,
13 World Views and Global Change, 363,
Appendices, 393,
Bibliography, 449,
Index, 475,
CHAPTER 1
Changing Values and Skills Among Western Publics: An Overview
I. Introduction
The values of Western publics have been shifting from an overwhelming emphasis on material well-being and physical security toward greater emphasis on the quality of life. The causes and implications of this shift are complex, but the basic principle might be stated very simply: people tend to be more concerned with immediate needs or threats than with things that seem remote or non-threatening. Thus, a desire for beauty may be more or less universal, but hungry people are more likely to seek food than aesthetic satisfaction. Today, an unprecedentedly large portion of Western populations have been raised under conditions of exceptional economic security. Economic and physical security continue to be valued positively, but their relative priority is lower than in the past.
We hypothesize that a significant shift is also taking place in the distribution of political skills. An increasingly large proportion of the public is coming to have sufficient interest and understanding of national and international politics to participate in decision-making at this level. Mass publics have played a role in national politics for a long time, of course, through the ballot and in other ways. Current changes enable them to play an increasingly active role in formulating policy, and to engage in what might be called "elite-challenging" as opposed to "elite-directed" activities. Elite-directed political participation is largely a matter of elites mobilizing mass support through established organizations such as political parties, labor unions, religious institutions, and so on. The newer "elite-challenging" style of politics gives the public an increasingly important role in making specific decisions, not just a choice between two or more sets of decision-makers. One of the most important elements contributing to this change is the fact that potential counter-elites are distributed more widely among the public than ever before.
The two processes of change reinforce each other. One aspect of the change in values, we believe, is a decline in the legitimacy of hierarchical authority, patriotism, religion, and so on, which leads to declining confidence in institutions. At the same time, the political expression of new values is f
