Holger Lengfeld

Support for European Union Environmental Policy by Citizens of EU-Member and Accession States

In a first step we reconstruct the emergence and content of European Union environmental policies and their underlying normative ideas. Th ese policies have become increasingly important since the 1970s such that today the EU expects member states actively to protect the natural environment even at the price of less economic freedom and higher financial costs. We then analyze the extent to which citizens support the idea of protecting the environment. Overall the approval rating for the EU ecological ideas is rather high, and environmental protection is an integral component of European citizens’ values. Nevertheless, not all countries support this to the same degree. Citizens of EU-15 countries show higher levels of support for having the environment take precedence over economic claims than do citizens in Accession I and II country groups and in Turkey. As regression analysis shows, the level of support depends on several factors. Th e most important ones are a country’s level of economic modernization and its citizens’ postmaterial value orientation.

Die Angst der Mittelschicht vor dem sozialen Abstieg

Uber Jahrzehnte hinweg galt die deutsche Mittelschicht als relativ gut geschutzt vor den Risiken schwankender Konjunkturen, vor dem Wandel der Erwerbsstruktur von der Industrie- zur Dienstleistungsgesellschaft, vor Langzeitarbeitslosigkeit oder vor Bildungsdefiziten. Auch die Ungleichheitsforschung hat sich lange Zeit kaum fur die Wohlstandsposition der Mittelschicht interessiert. So hat Karl Ulrich Mayer darauf hingewiesen, dass die Lage der Mitte nur einmal, in den 1950er Jahren, vorubergehend in den analytischen Fokus der Ungleichheitsforschung geraten war, namlich in der Debatte um Schelskys Thesen zur „nivellierten Mittelstandsgesellschaft“. Schelsky zufolge lief sozialstrukturell alles auf eine Hegemonie der mittleren Wohlstandspositionen hin: auf Angestellte und Beamte als gesellschaftlich dominante berufliche Positionen fur die im Zuge wirtschaftlicher Prosperitat aufsteigenden Arbeiterschaft und fur die im Abstieg begriffene fruhere adlige deutsche Oberschicht und die Grosindustriellen (Mayer 2006: 4).

European Citizenship and Social Integration in the European Union

1. The European Unions Crisis and its Impact on the Social Integration of Europe 2. System Integration and Social Integration in Europe: The Theoretical Framework 3. Europe of Market Citizens 4. Political Citizenship 5. Social Citizenship 6. The Future of the European Union Appendix: Dataset and Variables

Do European citizens support the idea of a European welfare state? Evidence from a comparative survey conducted in three EU member states

Some scholars have argued that the only way to resolve the Euro crisis would be to further deepen the integration process by institutionalising a European welfare state. This article examines whether a Europeanised welfare system would be supported by citizens of three member states of the EU. The authors argue that the legitimacy of a harmonisation of national welfare regimes would be established if a majority of citizens supported a Europeanised social policy. Using survey data from Germany, Poland and Spain, descriptive findings show that indeed a majority supports the idea of Europeanisation of social policy. Further, multivariate analyses show that those respondents who reject Europeanisation of social policy cannot be characterised to any significant extent in terms of socio-economic factors, and are only slightly more likely to be associated with cultural factors. The cleavages that structure people’s attitudes are thus relatively weak. The authors conclude that the potential for political mobilisation against Europeanisation of social policy in the three countries under investigation is rather low.

Is There a European Solidarity? Attitudes Towards Fiscal Assistance for Debt-Ridden European Union Member States

This paper analyses if European citizens are willing to show solidarity with debt-ridden EU member states during the recent crisis. Based on a theoretical concept comprehending four dimensions of solidarity - generalised willingness to support, existence of social cleavages, reasons of supporting others, acceptance of conditions a crisis country has to meet to receive assistance - we derived hypotheses stating that the existence of a European wide solidarity is rather unlikely. We analysed data from two Eurobarometer surveys 2010 and 2011 and a unique survey conducted in Germany and Portugal in 2012. Descriptive and multilevel analyses indicated that in 2010 and 2011, a narrow majority of all EU citizens supported fiscal assistance for crisis countries, and socio-economic and cultural cleavages in attitudes regarding financial assistance for crisis countries were rather low. Findings from the two country comparison showed that the willingness to show solidarity was predominantly guided by moral reasoning instead of the respondent’s self-interest. However, German and Portuguese respondents disagree on austerity measures, with the exception of social spending cuts. Taken all together, we come to the conclusion that recent years have brought a new legitimacy to the use of EU bailout measures which are now a given European practice.

Der Fall der Abstiegsangst, oder: Die mittlere Mittelschicht als sensibles Zentrum der Gesellschaft. Eine Trendanalyse 1984–2014

Zusammenfassung Neueren Studien zufolge hat in der deutschen Mittelschicht die Angst vor dem sozialen Abstieg, d. h. vor dem Verlust des sozioökonomischen Status, in den 1990er und 2000er Jahren zugenommen. Auf der Basis einer berufsbezogenen Konzeption analysieren wir den Verlauf der Abstiegsangst im Schichtvergleich über einen langen, von 1984 bis 2014 reichenden Zeitraum. Wir verwenden Daten des Sozio-oekonomischen Panels (SOEP) von maximal 49.102 Erwerbstätigen, für die 286.049 Beobachtungen vorliegen. Mit deskriptiven Trendanalysen und random effects ordered probit-Regressionen mit anschließenden marginsplot zeigen wir, dass die empfundene Unsicherheit von Beginn des Beobachtungszeitraums bis 2005 in allen Schichten angestiegen ist, wobei der Anstieg in der mittleren Mitte am stärksten war. Für 2006 bis 2014 beobachten wir dagegen einen starken Rückgang der Statusverunsicherung in allen Schichten. Trotz der Wirtschaftskrise 2009 war das Ausmaß der Sorgen am Ende des Beobachtungszeitraums 2014 in fast allen Schichten auf dem niedrigen Niveau von 1991. Dabei sank das Ausmaß der Sorgen in der mittleren Mittelschicht im Schichtvergleich am stärksten ab. Wir fassen unsere Ergebnisse in der These der mittleren Mittelschicht als das sensible Zentrum der Gesellschaft zusammen.

Erzielen Studierende ohne Abitur geringeren Studienerfolg? Befunde einer quantitativen Fallstudie / Do Students without a General Qualification for University Entrance Show Lower Academic Performance? Findings from a Quantitative Case Study

Zusammenfassung Im Jahr 2009 sind die deutschen Hochschulen für beruflich qualifizierte Bewerber ohne schulische Hochschulzugangsberechtigung geöffnet worden. Inwiefern unterscheiden sich diese Studierenden hinsichtlich des Studienerfolgs von traditionellen Studierenden mit Abitur? Auf der Basis von Überlegungen zu Kompetenzunterschieden aufgrund verschiedener Bildungsverläufe, zur kulturellen Schließung des akademischen Feldes für Personen mit niedrigerer sozialer Herkunft und zu unterschiedlichen Lebensumständen bilden wir Hypothesen zu Leistungsunterschieden. Diese überprüfen wir anhand von Prüfungsleistungsdaten von bis zu 1.142 Bachelor-Studierenden eines Fachbereichs einer deutschen Universität. Die Analysen zeigen, dass nicht-traditionelle Studierende im Vergleich zu Personen mit Abitur im ersten Studienjahr 8,4 Prozentpunkte weniger Lehrveranstaltungen erfolgreich absolvieren, eine um 19,9 Prozentpunkte geringere Wahrscheinlichkeit aufweisen, das Studium innerhalb von mindestens neun Semestern zu beenden und ein um durchschnittlich 0,15 Notenpunkte schlechteres Endergebnis erzielen. Summary Since 2009, German universities have been open to vocationally qualified applicants without the school-leaving qualification traditionally required for university entrance (“Abitur”). This paper investigates the extent to which these nontraditional students differ in regard to academic performance from traditional students who have attained the “Abitur”. Hypotheses about differences in performance are derived from three assumptions: competence differences due to different educational backgrounds, cultural closure of the academic field to students of lower socio-economic origin, and differences in students’ living conditions.We used data from up to 1,142 undergraduate students in one department at a German university to test our hypotheses. The analyses show that non-traditional first-year students pass a lower proportion of their courses (by 8.4 percentage points), have a lower probability of graduating within nine semesters (down 19.9 percentage points), and receive poorer final grades than persons with general university entrance qualifications (0.15 grade points lower).

Do internal labour markets protect the unskilled from low payment? Evidence from Germany

Purpose - – Up to date, it remains an unresolved issue how firms shape inequality in interaction with mechanisms of stratification at the individual and occupational-level. Accordingly, the authors ask whether workers of different occupational classes are affected to different degrees by between-firm wage inequality. In light of the recent rise of overall wage inequality, answers to this question can contribute to a better understanding of the role firms play in this development. The authors argue and empirically test that whether workers are able to benefit from firms’ internal or external strategies for flexibility depends on resources available at the individual and occupational level. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach - – Matched employer-employee data from official German labour market statistics are used to estimate firm-specific wage components, which are then regressed on structural characteristics of firms. Findings - – Between-firm wage effects of internal labour markets are largest among unskilled workers and strongly pronounced among qualified manual workers. Effects are clearly smaller among classes of qualified and high-qualified non-manual workers but have risen sharply for the latter class from 2005 to 2010. Social implications - – The most disadvantaged workers in the labour market are also most contingent upon employers’ increasingly heterogeneous policies of recruitment and remuneration. Originality/value - – This paper combines insights from sociological and economic labour market research in order to formulate and test the new hypothesis that between-firm wage effects of internal labour markets are larger for unskilled than for qualified workers.

Legitimacy of European Citizenship: Do Europeans believe that all EU Citizens should have the Right to Vote in another EU Country?

EU citizens living in an EU member state of which they are not nationals may participate in local elections. Based on a survey conducted in three member states of the EU we analyze the legitimacy of this core element of European citizenship. Firstly, we examine the extent to which European citizens support the Europeanisation of local voting rights. The results show that about two-thirds of citizens accept these rights. Secondly, we analyze whether those who reject the idea of equality for all Europeans can be determined by social characteristics. Our analyses show that opponents are not at all determined by socio-structural factors and are barely determined by cultural factors and hence do not form the basis for a politically mobilized cleavage. All in all, the results indicate that citizens believe in the legitimacy of this important component of European citizenship.

Das Ökologieskript der Europäischen Union und seine Akzeptanz in den Mitglieds- und Beitrittsländern The European Union's Ecological Script and Its Acceptance by the Citizens of the EU Member and Candidate Countries

Zusammenfassung Der fortschreitende Prozess der europäischen Integration lässt sich nicht nur als Zunahme europäischer Regelungen und der Ausbildung eines eigenständigen politischen Herrschaftsverbandes beschreiben, sondern auch als der Versuch der Etablierung einer europäischen Gesellschafts- und Werteordnung. Teil der Wertordnung der EU sind Ökologiewerte. Wir gehen der Frage nach, in welchem Maße die Bürgerinnen und Bürger der Europäischen Union und der Beitrittskandidaten die institutionalisierten Ökologie werte der EU unterstützen. Zunächst rekonstruieren wir das Ökologieskript der EU unter Rückgriff auf die Entwicklung des Primär- und Sekundärrechts. Anschließend untersuchen wir mit Hilfe der Daten des „Gallup Millennium Survey“ 1999 und des „ISSP“ 2000, in welchem Maße die Ökologievorstellungen der EU von den Bürgern Europas geteilt werden und wie man gefundene Werteunterschiede erklären kann. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Zustimmungsraten der Bürgerinnen und Bürger zum Ökologieskript der EU recht hoch sind. Dies gilt aber nicht für alle Länder gleichermaßen. Die Bürger der EU-15-Länder sprechen sich stärker für den Vorrang der Umwelt vor der Wirtschaft aus als die Bürger der Beitritt I- und Beitritt II-Länder sowie der Türkei. Die gefundenen Unterschiede lassen sich vor allem auf den Grad der ökonomischen Modernisierung und den Anteil an Postmaterialisten in einem Land zurückführen. Diese Befunde deuten darauf hin, dass die mittelosteuropäischen Länder und die Beitrittskandidaten mittelfristig kaum weitergehende EU-Initiativen zum Umweltschutz unterstützen werden. Langfristig jedoch kann sich dies ändern, wenn die ökonomische Modernisierung der neuen Mitgliedsstaaten voranschreitet und sich in ihrem Gefolge die grundlegenden Werthaltungen ändern. Summary European Integration can be interpreted not only as a process of increased regulation and the emergence of a new supranational political system. European integration can also be seen as an attempt to establish a European society with specific values. Part of these values are ecological values. We ask to what extent European citizens - of both EU member and candidate countries - support the environmental values of the EU. In a first step we reconstruct the ecological script of the EU as it is defined in the treaties and in European law. In a second step we examine whether citizens support the value script of the European Union, whether there are significant differences between the member states and the candidate countries, and how these differences can be explained. For these purposes we analyze the 1999 “Gallup Millennium Survey” and the “ISSP 2000” data set. Overall the support of the ecological values is quite high. Nevertheless, there are significant differences between countries. The ecological standards of the EU get a high level of support within the fifteen old European Union countries and less support in the ten new and the further candidate countries. The level of support depends on several factors. The most important ones are the country’s level of economic modernization and the respondent’s postmaterial value orientation. We suppose that in the short run the new countries of the EU and the candidate countries will not support further EU-initiatives aimed at environmental protection. In the long run, however, this may change if the process of economic modernization and a shift from material to postmaterial values in these countries continues.