Mixed Loyalties. The Middle Class, Support for Public Spending and Government Efficacy in Times of Welfare Retrenchment

Abstract

Recent studies assume that the middle class’s commitment to the welfare state has gradually eroded through the implementation of neoliberal policies. This article takes a more nuanced view by addressing the increasing heterogeneity within the middle class. It first shows that large segments of the middle class hold composite attitudes toward public spending. Small business owners combine moderate support for social spending with strong support for spending cuts. Likewise, technicians combine average support for social spending with average support for spending cuts. They differ from socio-cultural professionals who strongly support social spending and at the same time strongly oppose cuts in public spending. Results also indicate that support for spending cuts decreases in countries where public spending is deemed efficient, most notably among socio-cultural and technical professionals. Thus, it is argued that the middle class’s mixed loyalties can best be interpreted as evidence of a demand for government efficacy rather than as a sign of increasing conservatism.