Akinyemi Ibrahim Olayinka, Groß Martin, Lang Volker
Institute of Sociology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
Front Sociol. 2025 Jun 4;10:1567394. doi: 10.3389/fsoc.2025.1567394. eCollection 2025.
This study analyses the influence of inclusive policies on the democratic satisfaction of different social groups. It draws on social identity theory to explain how inclusive policies can contribute to conflicts and polarization in attitudes between social groups. More specifically, inclusive policies aim to improve the rights and social recognition of disadvantaged groups while they reduce the privileges of groups traditionally recognized as superior. Consequently, we expect that democratic institutions (as the providers of these policies) either get support or disproval from the respective social groups for inclusive policies-causing related increases and decreases in the democratic satisfaction of the respective groups. Using longitudinal data from European Social Survey (rounds 1-10) and additional country level data, we test how socially inclusive policies affect differences in democratic satisfaction between disadvantaged and privileged groups in four policy areas: (1) religious freedom, (2) inclusion of migrants, (3) equal treatment of homosexuals, and (4) gender equality. Except for gender equality policies, our findings support our hypothesis: socially inclusive policies lead to less democratic satisfaction for groups traditionally recognized as superior while the democratic satisfaction of formerly disadvantaged groups increases. These changes in democratic satisfaction indicate that inclusive policies lead to gains in equal social recognition (Isothymia) for some but at the same time are considered a threat to privileged social recognition (Megalothymia) by others. With respect to support for (democratic) political institutions inclusive policies are therefore a "double-edged sword" and need to be implemented with care. However, given comparatively strong inclusive policies regarding religious freedom and migrant integration our analyses also indicate convergence in democratic satisfaction between disadvantaged and privileged social groups.
本研究分析了包容性政策对不同社会群体民主满意度的影响。它借鉴社会认同理论来解释包容性政策如何导致社会群体之间的冲突和态度两极分化。更具体地说，包容性政策旨在改善弱势群体的权利和社会认可度，同时减少传统上被视为优越群体的特权。因此，我们预计民主机构（作为这些政策的提供者）会因包容性政策而得到或得不到各自社会群体的支持，从而导致各群体民主满意度相应上升或下降。利用欧洲社会调查（第1 - 10轮）的纵向数据和其他国家层面的数据，我们测试了社会包容性政策如何在四个政策领域影响弱势群体和特权群体之间民主满意度的差异：（1）宗教自由，（2）移民融入，（3）同性恋者平等待遇，以及（4）性别平等。除了性别平等政策外，我们的研究结果支持了我们的假设：社会包容性政策导致传统上被视为优越的群体的民主满意度降低，而以前处于弱势的群体的民主满意度提高。民主满意度的这些变化表明，包容性政策为一些人带来了平等社会认可度（平等尊严）的提升，但同时也被另一些人视为对特权社会认可度（优越尊严）的威胁。因此，就对（民主）政治机构的支持而言，包容性政策是一把“双刃剑”，需要谨慎实施。然而，鉴于在宗教自由和移民融入方面有相对较强的包容性政策，我们的分析也表明弱势群体和特权社会群体在民主满意度上出现了趋同。
