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Size and Evaluation of Government: Danish Attitudes towards Politics at Multiple Levels of Government *
Author(s) -
NIELSEN HANS JØRGEN
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
european journal of political research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.267
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1475-6765
pISSN - 0304-4130
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-6765.1981.tb00588.x
Subject(s) - distrust , politics , danish , local government , state (computer science) , government (linguistics) , political science , political economy , public administration , sociology , law , philosophy , linguistics , algorithm , computer science
The paper starts out from descriptions of Danish voters as protest voters, and the main problem is whether ‘protest’ as measured by distrust towards the national politicians is an indicator of a general negative attitude towards politics. A main distinction is made between distrust and lack of efficacy, and a second between national and local politics. It is found that there is hardly any lack of efficacy among the voters, and, further, that local politics is evaluated more positively than national politics. Hence distrust of national politicians is not synonymous with a general rejection of politics. Further, the more positive evaluation of local politics seems to be an expression of a ‘size factor’ producing not only a difference between state and local government but also between small and large municipalities.