Download full text
(external source)
Citation Suggestion
Please use the following Persistent Identifier (PID) to cite this document:
https://doi.org/10.1177/0192512116642221
Exports for your reference manager
Freedom and equality in democracies: is there a trade-off?
[journal article]
Abstract In political philosophy, economic theory and public discourse, there is a seemingly endless debate on what the essence of equality and freedom is and what relation between the two is essential to a good political order. Views range from the conviction that too much socio-economic equality jeopardise... view more
In political philosophy, economic theory and public discourse, there is a seemingly endless debate on what the essence of equality and freedom is and what relation between the two is essential to a good political order. Views range from the conviction that too much socio-economic equality jeopardises freedom to the position that a certain level of equality is necessary for the proper realisation of freedom. Building on these conflicting normative claims, we look at data from more than 50 established and emerging democracies for a period of more than 20 years to investigate whether there is indeed a trade-off between freedom and equality or whether they are mutually reinforcing. In the process, we distinguish between two types of equality – political and socio-economic. Our findings suggest that there is a positive relationship between freedom and both types of equality – even if we control for the level of economic development.... view less
Keywords
freedom; equality; democracy; comparative political science
Classification
Basic Research, General Concepts and History of Political Science
Free Keywords
political equality; socio-economic equality; trade-off
Document language
English
Publication Year
2016
Page/Pages
p. 594-605
Journal
International Political Science Review, 37 (2016) 5
Handle
https://hdl.handle.net/10419/171367
ISSN
1460-373X
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed
Licence
Deposit Licence - No Redistribution, No Modifications
With the permission of the rights owner, this publication is under open access due to a (DFG-/German Research Foundation-funded) national or Alliance license.