0.66 (2/3), and those where all answers yielded results that were either
non-significant or in the wrong direction received a 0 (0/3). When we
had results for only two questions, the same logic was applied, with
scores of 1 (2/2), 0.5 (1/2), or 0 (0/2). Table2.6 presents these scores
for different geographical or cultural areas of the world.
More than half of the countries (forty-three out of seventy-six) have
a score of 1 or of 0.66, which means that their citizens’ self-placement
on a left–right axis predicts fairly well what they think about equality,
competition, and the role of government. At the same time, almost
one out of four cases has a 0 (eighteen out of seventy-six), indicating a
lack of correspondence between ideological labels and attitudes about
politics. The rest have a score of 0.33 or 0.5, having significant results
for one out of three or out of two questions.
In Western Europe (including Turkey) and among Anglo-Saxon
democracies, most countries have a score of 1. The main exceptions,
with 0, are Ireland and Portugal. In the former Soviet sphere of influence,
results are almost as strong, with only two scores of 0 out of twenty-
three cases (Hungary and Slovenia). Results are more contrasted in the
Asia-Pacific region, with two scores of 1, four of 0.66 or 0.5, and three
of 0. In Latin America, and in the Middle East and Africa, scores of 0
predominate (six out of eleven in Latin America; five out of ten in the
Middle East and Africa), followed by scores of 0.33 (three in each
region). In line with the cultural or civilization argument, one could
present these results as a proof that the left–right division is a Western
concept, more meaningful in the West and in the North than in the
East and the South. Many exceptions, however, militate against such a
cultural interpretation. In Asia, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Japan,
the Philippines, and Vietnam have scores above 0.5; and so do Algeria,
Bangladesh, Indonesia, Kazakstan, and Turkey in the Muslim world.
As with non-response rates, the most plausible explanation to
account for the differences observed in Table2.6 relates to variations
in the democratic context. Among countries with scores of 1, a
majority are old democracies (fifteen out of twenty-seven), with at
least twenty years of regular multi-party elections. The rest are mostly
new democracies, or countries at the crossroads, which could be
classified as semi-democratic.^20 At the other end, among countries
(^20) On democracy, we follow the distinctions proposed in Inglehart and Norris,
Rising Tide, pp. 165–71.
48 Left and Right in Global Politics