Public support for the welfare state – and the policies constituting it – has long been a topic of research. Previous research on support for redistribution has tended to focus on how either country-level characteristics (particularly those relating to the macro-economy such as levels of economic development or income inequality) or individual-level political factors (such as left-right political orientation and sociodemographic factors) shape support for redistribution. To date, empirical research has insufficiently tested how macroeconomic context and individual political orientations interact. Research has also obscured whether the effects of macroeconomic context hold cross-sectionally (across country contexts) or longitudinally (within countries over time). Drawing on data from the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP), this article examines the cross-sectional (between-country) and longitudinal (within-country) interactive relationships involving economic development and income inequality (on one hand) and left–right political orientations (on the other) in shaping preferences for redistribution. Results indicate that there are larger left–right cleavages in attitudes in wealthier countries, more unequal countries, and countries where inequality is increasing. These findings challenge the dominant practice of focusing exclusively on additive effects of individual-level or country-level factors by showing the importance of paying attention to cross-level interactions.

中文翻译：

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两极分化的福利世界：政治取向、宏观经济背景和对再分配的支持

公众对福利国家的支持——以及构成福利国家的政策——长期以来一直是研究的主题。以往关于支持再分配的研究倾向于关注国家层面的特征（特别是与宏观经济相关的特征，如经济发展水平或收入不平等）或个人层面的政治因素（如左右政治取向）。和社会人口因素）形成对再分配的支持。迄今为止，实证研究尚未充分检验宏观经济背景和个人政治取向如何相互作用. 研究还模糊了宏观经济背景的影响是横向（跨国家背景）还是纵向（随着时间的推移在国家内部）。从数据中汲取国际社会调查计划（ISSP），本文研究了在塑造偏好方面涉及经济发展和收入不平等（一方面）和左右政治取向（另一方面）的横截面（国家之间）和纵向（国家内部）互动关系用于重新分配。结果表明，在较富裕的国家、更不平等的国家和不平等加剧的国家，态度存在较大的左右分歧。这些发现通过显示关注跨层次相互作用的重要性，挑战了只关注个人层面或国家层面因素的累加效应的主流做法。