Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-v9fdk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T08:49:07.343Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Value Priorities of the Political Elites: A Test of the Postmaterialist Thesis in the Puerto Rican Legislature

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Luis Raúl Cámara Fuertes
Luis Raúl Cámara Fuertes*
Affiliation:
University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras. [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The postmaterialist thesis has spurred a large body of literature and debates, yet postmaterialism has not been studied among political elites. Empirical studies of the legislatures and legislators of Latin American nations in general and Puerto Rico in particular, moreover, are sorely lacking. This article examines postmaterialist values among Puerto Rican legislators. It finds that Puerto Rican legislators have high levels of postmaterialism and that they order the components of the postmaterialism scale in ways similar to those of the mass publics of other countries, including those of Latin America. More important, the postmaterialist scale proves of little use in explaining the positions legislators take on a host of issues, many of which are closely associated with postmaterialism. An alternative explanation is that the scale really measures attachment to democratic norms.

Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Politics and Society , Volume 51 , Issue 4 , Winter 2009 , pp. 101 - 130
Copyright
Copyright © University of Miami 2009

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.)

References

Abramson, Paul. 1997. Postmaterialism and Environmentalism: a Comment on an Analysis and a Reappraisal. Social Science Quarterly 78: 21–24.Google Scholar
Abramson, Paul R., and Inglehart, Ronald. 1994. Education, Security, and Post-materialism: a Comment on Duch and Taylor's “Postmaterialism and the Economic Condition. American Journal of Political Science 38, 3 (August): 797–814.Google Scholar
Abramson, Paul R., and Inglehart, Ronald. 1995. Value Change in Global Perspective. Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press.Google Scholar
Ambrosius, Margery M., and Welch, Susan. 1988. State Legislators' Perceptions of Business and Labor Interests. Legislative Studies Quarterly 13: 199–209.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, Robert W. 1988. Political Parties and the Political Status: the Study of Political Organization in Puerto Rico. Caribbean Studies 21: 1–43.Google Scholar
Barreto, Amílcar A., and Munroe Eagles, D.. 2000. Modelos ecológicos de apoyo partidista en Puerto Rico, 1980–1992 [Ecological models of partisan support in Puerto Rico, 1980–1992]. Revista de Ciencias Sociales. Volume Nueva Epoca: 135–65.Google Scholar
Brechin, Steven R., and Kempton, Wilett. 1994. Global Environmentalism: a Challenge to the Postmaterialist Thesis? Social Science Quarterly 75: 245–69.Google Scholar
Brint, Steven. 1984. New-Class and Cumulative Trend Explanations of Liberal Political Attitudes of Professionals. American Journal of Sociology 90: 30–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brint, Steven. 1985. The Political Attitudes of Professionals. Annual Review of Sociology 11: 389–414.Google Scholar
Brooks, Clem, and Manza, Jeff. 1997. The Social and Ideological Bases of Middle-Class Political Realignment in the United States, 1972–1992. American Sociological Review 62: 191–208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brown, Robert D., and Carmines, Edward G.. 1995. Materialists, Postmaterialists, and the Criteria for Political Choice in U.S Presidential Elections. Journal of Politics 57, 2 (May): 483–94.Google Scholar
Bürklin, Wilhelm, and Rebenstorf, Hilke. 1997. Eliten in Deutschland: Rekrutierung und Integration. Opladen : Leske + Budrich.Google Scholar
Cámara Fuertes, Luis Raúl. 2004. The Phenomenon of Puerto Rican Voting. Gainesville : University Press of Florida.Google Scholar
Clarke, Harold. 2000. Refutations Affirmed: Conversations concerning the Euro-Barometer Values Battery. Political Research Quarterly 53: 477–94.Google Scholar
Converse, Phillip E. 1964. The Nature of Belief System in Mass Publics. In Ideology and Discontent, ed. Apter, David. New York : Free Press.Google Scholar
Dalton, Russell J. 1996. Citizen Politics: Public Opinion and Political Parties in Advanced Industrial Democracies. Chatham , NJ : Chatham House.Google Scholar
Davis, Darren W. 2000. Individual Level Examination of Postmaterialism in the U.S.: Political Tolerance, Racial Attitudes, Environmentalism, and Participatory Norms. Political Research Quarterly 53: 455–75.Google Scholar
Davis, Darren, and Davenport, Christian. 1999. Assessing the Validity of the Post-materialism Index. American Political Science Review 93: 649–64.Google Scholar
Davis, Darren, Dowley, Kathleen M., and Silver, Brian D.. 1999. Postmaterialism in World Societies: Is It Really a Value Dimension? American Journal of Political Science 43: 935–62.Google Scholar
Duch, Raymond M., and Taylor, Michael A.. 1993. Postmaterialism and the Economic Condition. American Journal of Political Science 37, 3 (August): 747–79.Google Scholar
Duch, Raymond M., and Taylor, Michael A.. 1994. A Reply to Abramson and Inglehart's “Education, Security, and Postmaterialism. American Journal of Political Science 38, 3 (August): 815–24.Google Scholar
Dunlap, Riley, and Mertig, Angela G.. 1997. Global Environmental Concern: an Anomaly for Postmaterialism. Social Science Quarterly 78: 24–29.Google Scholar
Gray, Virginia, and Lowery, David. 2000. Where Do Policy Ideas Come from? a Study of Minnesota Legislators and Staffers. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory 10: 573–97.Google Scholar
Inglehart, Ronald. 1990. Culture Shift in Advanced Industrial Society. Princeton : Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Inglehart, Ronald. 1995. Public Support for Environmental Protection: Objective Problems and Subjective Values in 43 Societies. PS: Political Science and Politics 28: 57–72.Google Scholar
Inglehart, Ronald. 1997. Modernization and Postmodernization: Cultural, Economic, and Political Change in 43 Societies. Princeton : Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Inglehart, Ronald. 2003. How Solid Is Mass Support for Democracy—and How Can We Measure It? Political Science and Politics: 51–57.Google Scholar
Inglehart, Ronald, and Welzel, Christian. 2003. Political Culture and Democracy: Analyzing Cross-Level Linkages. Comparative Politics 36: 61–79.Google Scholar
Inglehart, Ronald, and Abramson, Paul. 1994. Economic Security and Value Change. American Political Science Review 88: 336–54.Google Scholar
Inglehart, Ronald, and Abramson, Paul. 1999. Measuring Postmaterialism. American Political Science Review 93: 665–77.Google Scholar
Jackman, Mary R., and Muha, Michael J.. 1984. Education and Intergroup Attitudes: Moral Enlightenment, Superficial Democratic Commitment, or Ideological Refinement? American Sociological Review 49: 751–69.Google Scholar
Jacoby, William G. 1988. The Sources of Liberal-Conservative Thinking: Education and Conceptualization. Political Behavior 10: 316–32.Google Scholar
Jacoby, William G. 1997. Ideological Identification and Issue Attitudes. American Journal of Political Science 35: 178–205.Google Scholar
Jennings, M. Kent. 1992. Ideological Thinking among Mass Publics and Political Elites. Public Opinion Quarterly 56: 419–41.Google Scholar
Kidd, Quentin, and Aie-Lee, . 1997. Postmaterial Values and the Environment: a Critique and Reappraisal. Social Science Quarterly 78: 1–43.Google Scholar
Layman, Geoffrey C., and Carmines, Edward G.. 1997. Cultural Conflict in American Politics: Religious Traditionalism, Postmaterialism, and U.S. Political Behavior. Journal of Politics 59, 2 (May): 751–77.Google Scholar
Lijphart, Arend J. 1990. The Political Consequences of Electoral Laws. American Journal of Political Science 84: 481–96.Google Scholar
MacIntosh, Randall. 1998. Global Attitude Measurement: an Assessment of the World Values Survey Postmaterialism Scale. American Sociological Review 63: 452–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morgenstern, Scott. 2002a. Towards a Model of Latin American Legislatures. In Legislative Politics in Latin America, ed. Morgenstern, and Nacif, Benito. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Morgenstern, Scott. 2002b. Explaining Legislative Politics in Latin America. In Legislative Politics in Latin America, ed. Morgenstern, and Benito, Nacif. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Nevitte, Neil. 1994. ¿Se ha vuelto la gente más tolerante?: Evidencias de la Encuesta Mundial de Valores 1981–1990 [Have people become more tolerant?: Evidence from the World Values Survey 1981–1990]. In Tendencias mundiales de cambios en los valores sociales y políticos [World trends in social and political value changes], ed. Juan, Díez Nicolás and Inglehart, Ronald. Madrid : Fundesco.Google Scholar
Peffley, Mark, and Rohrschneider, Robert. 2003. Democratization and Political Tolerance in Seventeen Countries: a Multi-level Model of Democratic Learning. Political Research Quarterly 56: 243–58.Google Scholar
Pierce, John C., Lovrich, Nicholas P. Jr., Tsurutani, Taketsugu, and Abe, Takematsu. 1987. Culture, Politics, and Mass Publics: Traditional and Modern Supporters of the New Environmental Paradigm in Japan and the United States. Journal of Politics 49: 54–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rohrschneider, Robert. 1994. Report from the Laboratory: the Influence of Institutions on Political Elites' Democratic Values in Germany. American Political Science Review 88: 927–41.Google Scholar
Rohrschneider, Robert. 1996. Institutional Learning versus Value Diffusion: the Evolution of Democratic Values among Parliamentarians in Eastern and Western Germany. Journal of Politics 58: 422–46.Google Scholar
Saint-Germaine, Michelle. 1990. Does Their Difference Make a Difference? the Impact of Women on Public Policy in the Arizona Legislature. Social Science Quarterly 70: 956–68.Google Scholar
Searing, Donald D. 1978. Measuring Politicians' Values: Administration and Assessment of a Ranking Technique in the British House of Commons. American Political Science Review 72: 65–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steckenrider, Janie S., and Cutler, Neal E.. 1988. Aging and Adult Political Socialization: The Importance of Roles and Role Transition. In Political Learning in Adulthood: A Sourcebook of Theory and Research, ed. Sigel, Roberta. Chicago : University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Thomas, Sue. 1991. The Impact of Women on State Legislative Policies. Journal of Politics 53: 958–76.Google Scholar
Thomas, Sue, and Welch, Susan. 1991. The Impact of Gender on Activities and Priorities of State Legislators. Western Political Quarterly 44, 2 (June), 445–56.Google Scholar
Warwick, Paul V. 1998. Disputed Cause, Disputed Effect: the Postmaterialism Thesis Re-examined. Public Opinion Quarterly 62: 583–609.Google Scholar
Weil, Frederik D. 1985. The Variable Effects of Education on Liberal Attitudes: a Comparative-Historical Analysis of Anti-Semitism Using Public Opinion Survey Data. American Sociological Review 50: 458–74.Google Scholar
Welch, Susan, and Peters, John G.. 1977. Some Problems of Stimulating Responses to Mail Questionnaires. Political Methodology 71: 139–51.Google Scholar
World Values Survey. 1995. Official Data File v.3. World Values Survey Association. <http://www.worldvaluessurvey.org>..>Google Scholar
Zaller, John R. 1996. The Nature and Origins of Mass Public Opinion. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar