Hostname: page-component-5d84bcc8dc-d774m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-09-06T04:08:07.116Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Left and universal basic income: the role of ideology in individual support

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 October 2020

Hanna Schwander Open the ORCID record for Hanna Schwander [Opens in a new window]  and
Tim Vlandas
Hanna Schwander
Affiliation:
Department of Social Sciences, Humboldt University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Tim Vlandas*
Affiliation:
Social Policy Department of Social Policy and Intervention, Oxford University, Oxford, UK
*
Email: tim.vlandas@spi.ox.ac.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Few studies to date have analysed individual support for universal basic income (UBI). This article theorizes and explores empirically the relationship between different strands of left ideology and support for UBI across European countries. We delineate three types of concerns about capitalism: “Labourist Left” worry about exploitation; “Libertarian Left” about repression and “Social Investment Left” about inefficiencies. Contrary to expectations we derive from political theory and welfare state literature, our results based on data from the European Social Survey suggest that having high concerns about exploitation is positively correlated with support for UBI, whereas repression concerns are negatively correlated with support. In line with our hypothesis about social investment ideology, left-leaning individuals with efficiency concerns are more likely to support UBI. Our findings call for more detailed surveys as well as further research on the different ideologies within the Left and how these relate to variation in support for UBI, which crucially shapes the potential political coalition behind the introduction of UBI.

Keywords

Universal basic incomepartisanshipEuropeideologypolitical Leftwelfare statepreferences

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

Anderson, C. J. (2000). Economic voting and political context: A comparative perspective. Electoral Studies, 19, 151–170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ansell, B., & Gingrich, J. (2015). The Dynamics of Social Investment: Human Capital, Activation, and Care, In P., Beramendi, S., Hausermann, H., Kitschelt, & H.P., Kriesi (Eds.), The Politics of Advanced Capitalism, Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Berman, S. (2009). The primacy of economics versus the primacy of politics: Understanding the ideological dynamics of the twentieth century. Perspectives on Politics, 7(3), 561–578.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bonoli, G. (2013). Origins of active social policy: Labour market and childcare polices in a comparative perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bremer, B., & Schwander, H. (2019). Green voters and support for different social policy logics in times of electoral realignment. Paper presented at the Conference of Europeanists, June 20–24th, 2019, Madrid.Google Scholar
Chrisp, J., & Martinelli, L. (2019). Neither Left nor Right . In Torry, M. (Ed.), The Palgrave international handbook of basic income (pp. 477–492). London: Palgrave MacMillan.Google Scholar
Chrisp, J., & Martinelli, L. (2018). Robots are coming? Can the threat of automation drive public support for basic income? In ESPAnet Annual Conference 2018, Vilnius, Lithuania.Google Scholar
Clasen, J., & Clegg, D. (2012). Adapting labour market policy to a transformed emplyoment structure: The politics of ‘triple integration’. In Bonoli, G., & Natali, D. (Eds.), The politics of the new welfare state (pp. 135–157). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Cusack, T., Iversen, T., & Rehm, P. (2006). Risks at work: The demand and supply sides of government redistribution. Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 22(3, 365–389.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dimick, M., Rueda, D., & Stegmueller, D. (2018). Models of other-regarding preferences, inequality, and redistribution. Annual Review of Political Science, 21(1), 441–460.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eichhorst, W., Kaufmann, O., & Konle-Seidl, R. (2008). Bringing the jobless into work? Experiences with activation schemes in Europe and the US. Berlin: Springer Verlag.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
P., Emmenegger, S., Häusermann, B., Palier, M., Seeleib-Kaiser (2012). The age of dualization: the changing face of inequality in deindustrializing societies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Esping-Andersen, G. (2002). Why we need a new welfare state. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garritzmann, J., Häusermann, S., & Palier, B. (2021). The world politics of social investment . The welfare state in the century of knowledge (Volume I). Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Garritzmann, J. L., Busemeyer, M. R., & Neimanns, E. (2018). Public demand for social investment: New supporting coalitions for welfare state reform in Western Europe?. Journal of European Public Policy, 25(6), 844–861.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Giddens, A. (1998). The third way: The renewal of social democracy. Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Haagh, L. (2018). Basic income and institutional transformation. In: Van Parijs, P (Ed.) Basic income and the Left: A European debate (pp.78–88). London: Social Europe Edition.Google Scholar
Hacker, J. S., Rehm, P., & Schlesinger, M. (2013). The insecure American: Economic experiences, financial worries, and policy attitudes. Perspectives on Politics, 11(1), 23–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hassel, A. (2016). Unconditional basic income is a dead end. In Van Parijs, P (Ed.) Basic income and the Left. A European debate (pp.67–72). London: Social Europe Edition.Google Scholar
Häusermann, S., Kurer, T., & Schwander, H. (2015). High-skilled outsiders? Labor market vulnerability, education and welfare state preferences. Socio-Economic Review, 13(2), 235–258.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Häusermann, S., Kurer, T., & Schwander, H. (2016). Sharing the risk? Households, labor market vulnerability and social policy preferences in Western Europe. Journal of Politics, 78(4), 1045–1060.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hemerijck, A. (2017). The uses of social investment. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hemerijck, A. (2018). Social investment as a policy paradigm. Journal of European Public Policy, 25(6), 810–827.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huber, Evelyne, & Stephens, John D. (2006). Combating old and new social risks. In Klaus Armingeon & Guiliano Bonoli (Eds.), The politics of post-industrial welfare states: Adapting post-war social policies to new social risks (pp. 143–168). New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Iversen, T., & Soskice, D. (2001). An asset theory of social policy preferences. The American Political Science Review, 95(4), 875–893.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jæger, M. M. (2006). What makes people support public responsibility for welfare provision: Self-interest or political ideology? A longitudinal approach. Acta Sociologica, 49(3), 321–338.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jenson, J. (2012). A new politics for the social investment perspective: Objectives, instruments, and areas of intervention in welfare regime. In Bonoli, G., & Natali, D. (Eds.), The politics of the new welfare state. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Keman, H. (2011). Third ways and social democracy: The right way to go? British Journal of Political Science, 41(3), 671–680.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kitschelt, H. (1994). The transformation of the European social democracy. New York: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kitschelt, H. P. (1988). Left-libertarian parties: Explaining innovation in competitive party systems. World Politics, 40(2), 194–234.Google Scholar
Knotz, C. (2015). The politics of unemployment benefit conditionality. Mimeo.Google Scholar
Knotz, C. M. (2018). A rising workfare state? Unemployment benefit conditionality in 21 OECD countries, 1980–2012. Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy, 34(2), 91–108.Google Scholar
Korpi, W. (2006). Power resources and employer-centered approaches in explanations of welfare states and varieties of capitalism: Protagonists, consenters, and antagonists. World Politics, 58(2), 167–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krebs, A. (2000). Why mothers should be fed. Analyse & Kritik, 22. 10.1515/auk-2000-0201.Google Scholar
Kübler, D. (2007). Understanding the recent expansion of swiss family policy: An idea-centred approach. Journal of Social Policy, 36(2), 217–237.Google Scholar
Kvist, J. (2017). Inclusive growth and social investments over the life course. In Deeming, C., & Smyth, P (Eds.), Reframing global social policy: Social investment for sustainable and inclusive growth (pp. 213–228). Bristol: Policy Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, S. (2018). Attitudes toward universal basic income and welfare state in Europe: A research note. Basic Income Studies, 13(1), 101–109.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Linos, K., & West, M. (2003). Self-interest, social beliefs, and attitudes to redistribution. Re-addressing the issue of cross-national variation. European Sociological Review 19(4), 393–409.Google Scholar
March, L. (2011). Radical Left parties in Europe. Abingdon: Routledge.Google Scholar
Margalit, Y. M. (2013). Explaining social policy preferences: Evidence from the great recession. American Political Science Review, 107(1), 80–103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mestrum, F. (2018). Why basic income can never be a progressive solution – a response to Van Parijs. In Van Parijs, P (Ed.) The basic income and the Left. A European debate (pp.21–27). London: Social Europe Edition.Google Scholar
Michel, H. (2000). Sind Marktpreise gerecht? Eine Kritik am Van Parijsschen Okonomismus. Analyse & Kritik 22, 179–197.Google Scholar
Morel, N., Palier, B., & Palme, J. (2012). Towards a social investment welfare state? Ideas, policies and challenges. Bristol: The Policy Press. chapter 8.Google Scholar
Navarro, V. (2018). Why the universal basic income is not the best public intervention to reduce poverty or income inequality. In Van Parijs, P. (Ed.), Basic income and the Left. A European debate. London: Social Europe Edition. chapter 8.Google Scholar
Parolin, Z., & Siöland, L. (2020). Support for a universal basic income: A demand–capacity paradox? Journal of European Social Policy, 30(1), 5–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Powell, B. K. (2012). Two libertarian arguments for basic income proposals. Basic Income Studies, 62(2): 1–10.Google Scholar
Przeworski, A., & Sprague, J. (1986). Paper stones. A history of electoral socialism. Chicago: Chicago University Press.Google Scholar
Rehm, P. (2011). Social policy by popular demands. World Politics, 63(2), 271–299.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roosma, F., & van Oorschot, W (2018). Public opinion on basic income: Mapping European support for a radical alternative for welfare provision. In ESPAnet Annual Conference 2018, Vilnius, Lithuania.Google Scholar
Roosma, F., & van Oorschot, W. (2020). Public opinion on basic income: Mapping European support for a radical alternative for welfare provision. Journal of European Social Policy, 30(2), 190–205.Google Scholar
Rothstein, B. (2018). UBI – A bad idea for the welfare state. In Van Parijs, P (Ed.) Basic income and the Left. A European debate (pp.103–109). London: Social Europe Edition.Google Scholar
Schwander, H. (2020). Labor market insecurity among the middle class: a cross-pressured group. Political Science Research and Methods, 8(2), 369–374.Google Scholar
Steinvorth, U. (2000). Kann das Grundeinkommen die Arbeitslosigkeit abbauen? Analyse & Kritik. 257–268.Google Scholar
Van Parijs, P. (1995). Real freedom for all: What (if anything) can justify capitalism? Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Van Parijs, P. (2018a). Basic income and the Left. A European debate. London: Social Europe Edition.Google Scholar
Van Parijs, P. (2018b). Basic income and the Left. A European debate. In Van Parijs, P. (Ed.) Basic income and the Left. A European debate (pp.1–4). London: Social Europe Edition.Google Scholar
Van Parijs, P., & Vanderborght, Y. (2017). Basic income: A radical proposal for a free society and a Sane Economy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vandenbroucke, F. (2001). European social democracy and the third way: Convergence, divisions, and shared questions. In White, S. (Ed.) New labour: The progressive future? (pp. 161–174). London: Palgrave Macmillan UK.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vlandas, T. (2013a). Mixing apples with oranges? Partisanship and active labour market policies in Europe. Journal of European Social Policy, 23(1), 3–20.Google Scholar
Vlandas, T. (2013b). The politics of in-work benefits: The case of the ‘active income of solidarity’ in France. French Politics, 11, 117–142.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vlandas, T. (2019a). The Political Consequences of Labor Market Dualization: Labor Market Status, Occupational Unemployment and Policy Preferences. Political Science Research and Methods, 8(2), 362–368. doi:10.1017/psrm.2018.42.Google Scholar
Vlandas, T. (2019b). The Politics of the Basic Income Guarantee: Analysing Individual Support in Europe. Basic Income Studies, 14(1), 362–368. doi:10.1017/psrm.2018.42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vlandas, T. (2020). The political economy of individual-level support for the basic income in Europe. Journal of European Social Policy. doi:10.1177/0958928720923596. First published: 27 Aug 2020.Google Scholar
Wilson, R. (2018). Universal basic income – a disarmingly simple idea – And Fad. In Van Parijs, P. (Ed.) Basic income and the Left: A European debate (pp. 61–66). London: Social Europe Edition.Google Scholar
Zwolinski, M. (2013). Why did Hayek support a basic income? Retrieved from Libertarianism.org, 23 December 2013.Google Scholar