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In this article, we examine the nature of the relationship between educational attainment and ideology. Some scholars have argued that the effect of education on political variables like ideology is inflated due to unaccounted-for family factors, such as genetic predispositions and parental socialization. Using the discordant twin design and data from a large sample of Danish twins, we find that after accounting for confounders rooted in the family, education has a (quasi)-causal effect on economic ideology, but not social ideology. We also examine whether the relationship between education and economic ideology is moderated by levels of economic hardship in the local context where individuals reside. We find that the (quasi)-causal effect of education on economic ideology increases in economically challenged areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the foundations of democratic citizenship along three dimensions: generalised trust in other people; norms of citizenship; and participation in organisations. Contrary to previous research, which mainly focuses on situational factors, this article scrutinises how individual predispositions, in terms of personality traits, influence the three dimensions of democratic citizenship. In accordance with recent research, personality is conceptualised according to the Big Five personality model encompassing the five traits Openness (to experience), Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism. Based on a nationally representative Danish survey, which includes a 60-item Big Five personality inventory, we show that personality traits to a considerable extent influence all three dimensions of democratic citizenship. Furthermore, for norms of citizenship and organisational involvement, the personality traits have differential impacts contingent on the norm and type of organisational involvement in question. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Denmark and Norway have experienced significant political changes during the past three decades, changes that affect the constraints and opportunities organized interests are facing. Corporatist representation in the policy-making process has declined, and changes in executive-legislative relations have increased the power of parliaments. Organized interests are expected to adapt to these changing circumstances to maintain their political influence. This article shows how Danish and Norwegian interest groups have coped with the decline of corporatism and the revival of parliaments. Representation in corporatist policy-making committees and lobbying toward civil servants in government ministries have been supplemented and in some cases substituted by political lobbyism directed toward elected representatives in the parliament and the government. The analysis is based on panel data from several surveys carried out among nationwide interest groups in Denmark and Norway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mass media have become more important in political communication in western democracies in recent decades. Parliamentarians need to pay attention to the norms and demands of the media and conform to the ‘media logic’. Politicians allegedly lose communicative autonomy in their interaction with the media and the literature suggests that they regret this development. The consequences of this mediatization process are rarely studied empirically, however. Using two elite surveys this article studies Danish MPs’ interaction with and attitudes toward the media in 1980 and 2000. As expected, the evidence shows that MPs appear more often in the media in 2000 than in 1980, and that they have come to perceive the media as a more autonomous political actor. Contrary to expectations, MPs have not become more critical toward the media in general and they have become even more satisfied with the media coverage of their own activities as MPs. On the individual level, the increased satisfaction is correlated with media appearances which again correlate with seniority, position, and party affiliation. The evidence suggests that parliamentarians are not puppets of the media-at least some of them are in a position to take advantage of the mediatization of politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]