State or market? Italians' attitudes and the role of social class in the last thirty years

Abstract

The article investigates whether and how Italians’ attitudes towards the role of the state and the market have changed between 1990 and 2020. Specifically, it will investigate two sets of opposite attitudes: individualism versus collectivism, and free market liberalism versus statism. Two opposing macro hypotheses are considered. The first is that Italian citizens adopt attitudes that are in line with policy trends (policy feedback), while the second is that there is a tendency to develop a compensatory reaction (thermostat effect). In fact, the regulation of Italian capitalism has seen important changes in the last thirty years in Italy. Economic and social policies have undergone reform processes in the direction of deregulation and privatization. Moreover, the article seeks to understand whether and to what extent belonging to a given social class influences these attitudes. The findings show that the influence of class has continued to be significant over the period, though it has weakened overall as a result of convergence towards collectivist-statist values. This trend can be interpreted as reflecting a thermostat effect.