Abstract
The Role of Government (ROG) module of the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) is a unique high-quality data source for comparative research on political attitudes and orientations. This article describes the content, coverage, and history of the ISSP 2016 ROG module, which was fielded in 35 countries. The module has been fielded five times since its inception in 1985, and a majority of the items in the 2016 module are replicated from previous waves to facilitate comparisons over time. In addition, a substantial number of new items are included to cover pertinent issues not previously addressed by the ISSP. Topics include (but are not restricted to) civil liberties; national security and challenges; state intervention in the economy; government taxation, spending, redistribution, and responsibilities; political trust and efficacy; corruption and institutional trust; and government responsiveness. This new wave of the module gauges political opinion at a moment in history characterized by substantial political turmoil and change in many countries. At the same time, this fifth wave strengthens the analytical capacity of the module for charting longitudinal developments both within and across countries. Overall, this makes the ISSP ROG module an attractive platform for asking new questions that can further the mutual development of theory and empirical analysis in comparative research.
Highlights
This new wave of the module gauges political opinion at a moment in history characterized by substantial political turmoil and change in many countries. This fifth wave strengthens the analytical capacity of the module for charting longitudinal developments both within and across countries. This makes the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) Role of Government (ROG) module an attractive platform for asking new questions that can further the mutual development of theory and empirical analysis in comparative research
The International Social Survey Programme (ISSP)—and, in particular, the Role of Government (ROG) module—is a tremendously important data source for comparative research on political attitudes and preferences related to the size and efforts of government, social policy and redistribution, taxation, and civil rights, to mention just a few key research areas
The ISSP Family and Changing Gender Roles module covers the topics of work–life balance and women’s participation in society, the drafting group (DG) felt it was important to add an item on whether it is the responsibility of government to promote equality between men and women
Summary
The Role of Government (ROG) module of the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) is a unique high-quality data source for comparative research on political attitudes and orientations. This article describes the content, coverage, and history of the ISSP 2016 ROG module, which was fielded in 35 countries.
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