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THE PUBLIC/PRIVATE SECTOR CLEAVAGE REVISITED: THE IMPACT OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYMENT ON POLITICAL ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIOUR IN 11 WEST EUROPEAN COUNTRIES
Author(s) -
TEPE MARKUS
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
public administration
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.313
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1467-9299
pISSN - 0033-3298
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9299.2011.01961.x
Subject(s) - cleavage (geology) , public sector , private sector , tertiary sector of the economy , politics , voting , government (linguistics) , public service , democracy , business , economics , public administration , labour economics , economic growth , political science , economy , marketing , linguistics , philosophy , geotechnical engineering , fracture (geology) , law , engineering
This study explores a refined model of public/private sector cleavage voting. Assuming that market and work experiences are crucial for people to develop common political views, it investigates three contexts that shape government employees' willingness to vote as a single constituency: the branch of public sector production, the occupational status, and the type of service economy. Estimation results obtained from regressions on European Social Survey (ESS) data indicate that government employees in public health, education and service production rather than public administration utilize sector cleavage voting. Regardless of their actual occupational status, public health and education employees show persistently stronger attitudes in favour of expanding state responsibility. With respect to party choice, stronger signs of alignment along the sector cleavage are observed in Social Democratic service economies. In sum, the public/private sector cleavage continues to matter in a more complex way than a simple sector dichotomy would suggest.