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Moral Universalism and the Structure of Ideology

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  • Benjamin Enke
  • Ricardo Rodríguez-Padilla
  • Florian Zimmermann

Abstract

Throughout the Western world, people’s policy preferences are correlated across domains in a strikingly similar fashion. Based on a simple model, we propose that what partly explains the particular internal structure of political ideology is heterogeneity in moral universalism: the extent to which an individual’s altruism and trust remain constant as social distance increases. In representative surveys with 15,000 respondents, we measure universalism using structured choice tasks. In the data, heterogeneity in universalism descriptively explains a substantial share of desired government spending levels for welfare, affirmative action, environmental protection, foreign aid, health care, military, border control, and law enforcement. Moreover, the canonical left-right divide on issues such as the military or redistribution reverses depending on whether participants evaluate more or less universalist versions of these policies. These patterns hold in the United States, Australia, Germany, France, and Sweden, but not outside the West. We confirm the idea of higher universalism among the Western political left by estimating the universalism of U.S. regions using large-scale donation data and linking this measure to local vote shares.

Suggested Citation

  • Benjamin Enke & Ricardo Rodríguez-Padilla & Florian Zimmermann, 2019. "Moral Universalism and the Structure of Ideology," CESifo Working Paper Series 7924, CESifo.
  • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_7924
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    2. Dietmar Fehr & Johanna Mollerstrom & Ricardo Perez-Truglia, 2022. "Your Place in the World: Relative Income and Global Inequality," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 14(4), pages 232-268, November.
    3. Ottoni-Wilhelm, Mark & Vesterlund, Lise, 2023. "Motives to give in economics and psychology: A step toward unification," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 216(C), pages 354-365.
    4. Günnur Ege Bilgin & Cavit Görkem Destan, 2024. "Voting Under Salience Bias and Strategic Extremism," CRC TR 224 Discussion Paper Series crctr224_2024_542, University of Bonn and University of Mannheim, Germany.
    5. Tabellini, Guido & Persson, Torsten, 2020. "Culture, Institutions and Policy," CEPR Discussion Papers 15233, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    6. Kammas, Pantelis & Sarantides, Vassilis, 2024. "Historical pathogen prevalence and the radius of trust," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    7. Alexander W. Cappelen & Benjamin Enke & Bertil Tungodden, 2022. "Universalism: Global Evidence," CESifo Working Paper Series 9794, CESifo.
    8. Peter Andre & Teodora Boneva & Felix Chopra & Armin Falk, 2021. "Misperceived Social Norms and Willingness to Act Against Climate Change," ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series 101, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.
    9. Alexander Klemm & Paolo Mauro, 2022. "Pandemic and progressivity," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 29(2), pages 505-535, April.
    10. Jetter, Michael, 2024. "On the Post-Enlightenment Evolution of Moral Universalism," IZA Discussion Papers 16947, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Bagues, Manuel & Roth, Christopher, 2020. "Interregional Contact and National Identity," CAGE Online Working Paper Series 526, Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy (CAGE).
    12. Ellingsen, Tore & Mohlin, Erik, 2022. "A Model of Social Duties," Working Papers 2022:14, Lund University, Department of Economics.
    13. Michel Andre Maréchal & Alain Cohn & Jeffrey Yusof & Raymond Fisman & Michel André Maréchal, 2023. "Whose Preferences Matter for Redistribution: Cross-Country Evidence," CESifo Working Paper Series 10846, CESifo.
    14. Carvajal, Daniel, 2024. "Exposure to diversity, social proximity and ingroup bias," Discussion Paper Series in Economics 14/2024, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Economics.

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    JEL classification:

    • D01 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Behavior: Underlying Principles
    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior

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