Political Disenchantment and the Urban-Rural Divide: An Investigation of Social and Political Attitudes Across 30 European Countries

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Presenter: Davide Luca, Research Associate, Bennett Institute for Public Policy, University of Cambridge.

On the 12 February 2020, Davide Luca presented his research work with Mike Kenny as part of the City-REDI Seminar Series. Below is an abstract and also a video recording of the seminar with slide and audio.

Abstract: Despite growing concerns about increasing divisions between urban and rural Europe, relatively little research has explored whether there is a systemically rooted urban-rural divide in political and socioeconomic attitudes across the continent. This paper aims to fill this gap. Drawing on individual-level data from the European Social Survey, it explores potential linkages between place of residence and individual attitudes. Our results show how there are strong and statistically significant differences between the populations in these different settings. But this spatial divide does not operate in a binary fashion. It is more of a continuum, running from inner cities to metropolitan suburbs, towns, and the countryside. The differences are robust to controlling for a host of sociodemographic individual characteristics and consistent across a broad range of issues. The paper explores the significance of these findings in relation to emerging political and policy debates about the spatial dimensions of political disenchantment.

Here is a list of the upcoming seminars:

Time Date Presenter Affiliation Room
1-3pm 11th of Mar Elvira Uyarra The University of Manchester Law Building 204, University of Birmingham
1-3pm 25th of Mar Carlo Corradini University of Birmingham Law Building 204, University of Birmingham
1-3pm 8th of Apr Kristinn Hermannsson University of Glasgow Law Building 204, University of Birmingham
1-3pm 22th of Apr Marina Della Guista University of Reading Law Building 204, University of Birmingham
1-3pm 6th of May David Castells Aut. University of Barcelona Law Building 204, University of Birmingham
1-3pm 20th of May Peter Batey University of Liverpool Law Building 204, University of Birmingham

Disclaimer:
The views expressed in this analysis post are those of the authors and not necessarily those of City-REDI or the University of Birmingham.

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