Reconfiguring responsibilities between state and market: how the ‘concept of the state’ affects political consumerism

Abstract

Citizens hold different views on what they consider to be an appropriate role of the state in society. Their ‘concept of the state’ varies, and with it vary the views on which duties and responsibilities belong to the state, firms and citizens, and which role corresponds to each of them in tackling socio-political concerns. Based on a comparison of 20 European countries, this paper shows that such views affect individuals’ tendency to become political consumers and the overall extent of political consumerism in a country. Depending on whether cooperative approaches predominate in a society or, in turn, a reliance on free-market mechanisms prevails, the magnitude of political consumerism is larger or smaller in a country, respectively. Furthermore, the same pattern is observable at the individual level: citizens holding a cooperative ‘concept of the state’ are twice as likely political consumers than are citizens relying on free-market mechanisms. Thus, the study shows that different ‘concepts of the state’ explain cross-national differences in political consumerism, and these differences are immediately connected to singular patterns that underlie the individual inhabitants’ attitudes. Moreover, this highlights that attempts to encourage political consumerism should focus on means that are attuned to the prevailing ‘concept of the state’.