Abstract
By using data collected from candidates from the danish municipal election in 2017 and creating two indexes; one for the traditional “left-right” scale and one for a new “green” scale, we see that the two follow eachother very closely and are almost interchangeable. The “reddest” parties are indeed also the “greenest”.
In a danish context therefore we can conclude that green is the new red.
Key words: left-right scale, socialism, liberalism, green movement
Introduction
This article looks into the relationship between the “red” and the “green” political ideologies. By creating indexes that measure the two I look at how closely they are related in a danish context.
Is the green ideology a separate independent movement or does it actually belong as a subset to the older “left-right” ideologies that traditionally have been mostly concerned with questions of redistribution of wealth?
Conclusion
By creating an index to measure the postition of danish parties on the traditional “left-right” scale and a new index to measure the parties position on a “green” scale we see that these follow eachother very closely. In a danish context there does not seem to be a difference between red and green parties. They are in fact the same. Green is the new red.
Article and data:
https://osf.io/zfm4k/
Page lenght: 7
Word count: 1822
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This paper analyses data on the stated political attitudes of candidates in a 2017 Danish election. The main finding is that there is a very strong cross-party correlation between candidates' average left-wing attitudes and their average pro-environment attitudes. The data analysed are novel, the analyses are appropriate, and the research question is interesting. Hence the paper has a lot of promise. However, I would ask the author to address the following points before I can recommend it for publication:
1. The introduction is very short, and doesn't cite any prior literature. The author should try to find at least one previous paper that has investigated the ideological structure of Danish politics. In addition, if there have been any newspaper articles discussing the author's research question, it would be worth citing those as well.
2. The author should provide rough English translations for the Danish party names.
3. It strikes me that item 13 ("The municipality has to pay for children’s sports activities if parents can not afford it") could also be seen as a measure of left-right attitudes. The author should either include it in his index of left-right attitudes or explain why he has chosen not to do so.
4. The author analyses the relationship between an index of left-right attitudes and an index of pro-environment attitudes. However, it might also be interesting to look at how the index of pro-environment attitudes relates to an index of "socially progressive" attitudes. The author could attempt to construct such an index out of items 6, 10 and 11.
5. The author reports the correlations across the party averages. However, it might also be interesting to examine the association across candidates controlling for party. In other words, do candidates with more left-wing attitudes tend to be more pro-environment within each party?
6. The first sentence of the Discussion sounds a little bit tendentious, and should be rephrased.
7. The author's explanation for his main research finding seems to be that both left-wing economic attitudes and pro-environment attitudes stem from an underlying preference for state control of society. In this regard, he should make reference to the work of Jon Haidt, who has investigated the foundations of morality in different societies. In his later work, Haidt argues that one of the key foundations is a freedom vs. coercion dimension, which economic rightists tend to score high on (i.e., more pro-freedom), and which economic leftists tend to score low on (i.e., less pro-freedom). For example, see Table 2 in his paper 'Understanding Libertarian Morality'.
8. As a caveat at the end, the author may wish to note that some philosophers have advocated environmentalism from a conservative point of view. The most prominent example being the British philosopher Sir Roger Scruton. For example, Scruton begins a 2013 article with the statement, "There is no political cause more amenable to the conservative vision than that of the environment." However, Scruton's conservatism should obviously be distinguished from the free-market conservatism of some centre-right parties. In this regard, it would be particularly interesting to see the results of the analysis suggested in point 4 above.
1. The introduction is very short, and doesn't cite any prior literature. The author should try to find at least one previous paper that has investigated the ideological structure of Danish politics. In addition, if there have been any newspaper articles discussing the author's research question, it would be worth citing those as well.
2. The author should provide rough English translations for the Danish party names.
3. It strikes me that item 13 ("The municipality has to pay for children’s sports activities if parents can not afford it") could also be seen as a measure of left-right attitudes. The author should either include it in his index of left-right attitudes or explain why he has chosen not to do so.
4. The author analyses the relationship between an index of left-right attitudes and an index of pro-environment attitudes. However, it might also be interesting to look at how the index of pro-environment attitudes relates to an index of "socially progressive" attitudes. The author could attempt to construct such an index out of items 6, 10 and 11.
5. The author reports the correlations across the party averages. However, it might also be interesting to examine the association across candidates controlling for party. In other words, do candidates with more left-wing attitudes tend to be more pro-environment within each party?
6. The first sentence of the Discussion sounds a little bit tendentious, and should be rephrased.
7. The author's explanation for his main research finding seems to be that both left-wing economic attitudes and pro-environment attitudes stem from an underlying preference for state control of society. In this regard, he should make reference to the work of Jon Haidt, who has investigated the foundations of morality in different societies. In his later work, Haidt argues that one of the key foundations is a freedom vs. coercion dimension, which economic rightists tend to score high on (i.e., more pro-freedom), and which economic leftists tend to score low on (i.e., less pro-freedom). For example, see Table 2 in his paper 'Understanding Libertarian Morality'.
8. As a caveat at the end, the author may wish to note that some philosophers have advocated environmentalism from a conservative point of view. The most prominent example being the British philosopher Sir Roger Scruton. For example, Scruton begins a 2013 article with the statement, "There is no political cause more amenable to the conservative vision than that of the environment." However, Scruton's conservatism should obviously be distinguished from the free-market conservatism of some centre-right parties. In this regard, it would be particularly interesting to see the results of the analysis suggested in point 4 above.
Further to my previous post, I just came across this blog post at the LSE, which reports a very high degree of overlap between the preferences of Labour supporters (i.e., supporters of the UK's left-wing party) and the preferences of Green supporters (i.e., supporters of the UK's environmentalist party):
'The polarisation of party supporters since 2015 and the problem of the ’empty centre’ – in maps'
'The polarisation of party supporters since 2015 and the problem of the ’empty centre’ – in maps'
I have worked further on the paper after receiving great input from Carl above. I have updated the OSF repo with the newest article and here are the changes in to my original post:
Abstract
By using data collected from candidates from the danish municipal election in 2017 and creating two indices - one for the traditional "socialist-capitalist" scale and one for a new "green" scale - I show that the two follow each other very closely and are almost interchangeable. The "reddest" parties are indeed also the "greenest".
Key words: socialist-capitalist scale, left-right scale, socialism, capitalism, liberalism, green movement
Introduction
This paper looks into the relationship between the “red” and the “green” political ideologies. By creating indices that measure the two I look at how closely they are related in a danish context.
Because, where does the green movement belong? Is the green movement a separate independent movement or does it actually belong as a subset to the older “socialist-capitalist” ideologies that traditionally have been mostly concerned with questions of redistribution of wealth?
In Denmark we often associate the green movement with the socialist leaning parties and the most socialist party in the Danish parliament “The Red-Green Alliance” even bears the word “green” it in its name. But now and again we also hear about how green the danish conservatives are (Pedersen 2014), even though the conservatives are firmly planted on the capitalist side of the traditional socialist-capitalist political spectrum.
The socialist parties see the green movement as a natural part of the socialist movement because it addresses issues and problems created by capitalism. As “The Red-Green Alliance” writes on their website: “The fact that the capitalist society is based on private property and market economy has serious consequences not only for society and for individuals but also for nature and the environment.” (translated from Danish, (“Delprogram: Miljøkampen,” n.d.)).
Danish conservative thinkers on the other hand see the care for the environment as part of a contract with future generations: “A healthy and sustainable environment is the prerequisite of life not only for the generations that were before us, not just for us living, but also for the future generations that come after us.” (translated from Danish, (Pedersen 2014)).
So where does the green movement belong? As an independent movement that unites both conservatives and socialists or is it in fact just a sub-movement of the larger socialist-capitalist ideological spectrum?
Conclusion
By creating an index to measure the position of danish parties on the traditional “socialist-capitalist” scale and a new index to measure the parties position on a “green” scale we see that these follow each other very closely. In a Danish context there does not seem to be a difference between red and green parties. They are in fact the same.
Article and data:
https://osf.io/zfm4k/
Abstract
By using data collected from candidates from the danish municipal election in 2017 and creating two indices - one for the traditional "socialist-capitalist" scale and one for a new "green" scale - I show that the two follow each other very closely and are almost interchangeable. The "reddest" parties are indeed also the "greenest".
Key words: socialist-capitalist scale, left-right scale, socialism, capitalism, liberalism, green movement
Introduction
This paper looks into the relationship between the “red” and the “green” political ideologies. By creating indices that measure the two I look at how closely they are related in a danish context.
Because, where does the green movement belong? Is the green movement a separate independent movement or does it actually belong as a subset to the older “socialist-capitalist” ideologies that traditionally have been mostly concerned with questions of redistribution of wealth?
In Denmark we often associate the green movement with the socialist leaning parties and the most socialist party in the Danish parliament “The Red-Green Alliance” even bears the word “green” it in its name. But now and again we also hear about how green the danish conservatives are (Pedersen 2014), even though the conservatives are firmly planted on the capitalist side of the traditional socialist-capitalist political spectrum.
The socialist parties see the green movement as a natural part of the socialist movement because it addresses issues and problems created by capitalism. As “The Red-Green Alliance” writes on their website: “The fact that the capitalist society is based on private property and market economy has serious consequences not only for society and for individuals but also for nature and the environment.” (translated from Danish, (“Delprogram: Miljøkampen,” n.d.)).
Danish conservative thinkers on the other hand see the care for the environment as part of a contract with future generations: “A healthy and sustainable environment is the prerequisite of life not only for the generations that were before us, not just for us living, but also for the future generations that come after us.” (translated from Danish, (Pedersen 2014)).
So where does the green movement belong? As an independent movement that unites both conservatives and socialists or is it in fact just a sub-movement of the larger socialist-capitalist ideological spectrum?
Conclusion
By creating an index to measure the position of danish parties on the traditional “socialist-capitalist” scale and a new index to measure the parties position on a “green” scale we see that these follow each other very closely. In a Danish context there does not seem to be a difference between red and green parties. They are in fact the same.
Article and data:
https://osf.io/zfm4k/
Many thanks for resubmitting the article. However, I would ask the author to write a short response to each one of my points, explaining how he has changed the paper in accordance with the point raised, or why he has chosen not to do so. As an example, see my response to Emil here:
https://openpsych.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=300&pid=4339#pid4339
https://openpsych.net/forum/showthread.php?tid=300&pid=4339#pid4339
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