Contextual Effects and Support for Liberalism: A Comparative Analysis
type: CreativeWork
description: This dissertation examines how variation in political freedom shapes individuals’ liberal attitudes and challenges existing explanations on value change. I begin by demonstrating that mainland China does not follow the path anticipated by Inglehart’s popular theory of value change, which expects protracted economic development to result in growing liberalism (Chapter 2). Many societies sharing similar economic and cultural backgrounds (such as Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan) have successfully embraced liberal values. I argue that it is necessary to consider a neglected contextual factor—level of political freedom—to explain the variation. I validate this argument by comparing a wide range of societies with different economic, cultural and political contexts in Chapter 3. My analysis shows that countries with different levels of political freedom exhibit markedly different patterns of value change. Specifically, while members of politically free societies largely follow the pattern sketched by Inglehart, relatively well-educated and well- to-do people in politically unfree societies experience little value change or even express growing conservativism (compared to other demographic groups) as their societies develop economically. To explain this finding, I suggest that political regimes, especially non-free regimes manipulate cultural institutions, including the educational system, to impede value liberalization. To investigate this process, Chapter 4 compares educational reform and value change in Taiwan and mainland China since the late 1940s. These two societies share economic and cultural backgrounds but have radically different political systems. My analysis finds that the value change mechanisms in the two societies differ greatly from each other. In sum, this dissertation demonstrates that political context is critically important in shaping individual value orientations. This argument adds to existing literature on how democratic values provoke democra…
abstract: This dissertation examines how variation in political freedom shapes individuals’ liberal attitudes and challenges existing explanations on value change. I begin by demonstrating that mainland China does not follow the path anticipated by Inglehart’s popular theory of value change, which expects protracted economic development to result in growing liberalism (Chapter 2). Many societies sharing similar economic and cultural backgrounds (such as Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan) have successfully embraced liberal values. I argue that it is necessary to consider a neglected contextual factor—level of political freedom—to explain the variation. I validate this argument by comparing a wide range of societies with different economic, cultural and political contexts in Chapter 3. My analysis shows that countries with different levels of political freedom exhibit markedly different patterns of value change. Specifically, while members of politically free societies largely follow the pattern sketched by Inglehart, relatively well-educated and well- to-do people in politically unfree societies experience little value change or even express growing conservativism (compared to other demographic groups) as their societies develop economically. To explain this finding, I suggest that political regimes, especially non-free regimes manipulate cultural institutions, including the educational system, to impede value liberalization. To investigate this process, Chapter 4 compares educational reform and value change in Taiwan and mainland China since the late 1940s. These two societies share economic and cultural backgrounds but have radically different political systems. My analysis finds that the value change mechanisms in the two societies differ greatly from each other. In sum, this dissertation demonstrates that political context is critically important in shaping individual value orientations. This argument adds to existing literature on how democratic values provoke democra…
author: Zhang, Huiquan
keywords: Comparative politics, East Asia studies, Political sociology, Public opinion
date published: 2018-03
date modified: 2026-07-27T21:27:56Z
provider: University of Toronto
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Toronto

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/82966