In Chapter 4, we found large intergenerational differences linked with the survival/self-expression values dimension – but we did not find them everywhere. In postindustrial democracies and the western group of ex-communist societies, the young are much likelier to emphasize self-expression values than the old; smaller age differences are found in developing societies and in the eastern ex-communist group; and little or no intergenerational differences are found in low-income societies. If these intergenerational differences portend long-term shifts toward increasing emphasis on self-expression values in postindustrial societies, they have important implications. For (as the second half of this book demonstrates) increasing emphasis on self-expression values is linked with growing mass demands for democracy where it does not exist, and growing pressures to deepen democracy where it does exist.

Materialist/postmaterialist values are a key component of the survival/self-expression dimension, and, as we have just seen, the large age-related differences that were found with these values in 1970 actually did predict long-term changes in the prevailing values of postindustrial societies. Does this pattern hold more generally, with the age differences that are linked with survival/self-expression values predicting long-term social changes? As we will see, they do. Let us examine the changes over time found with other components of the survival/self-expression dimension, starting with its participatory component.

The Rise of Elite-Challenging Civic Action

More than twenty-five years ago, Inglehart (1977: 5, 317–21) predicted declining rates of elite-directed political mobilization and rising rates of elite-challenging mass activity among Western publics.