Social Inequality in Political Participation: The Dark Sides of Individualisation

Has the participatory gap between social groups widened over the past decades? And if so, how can it be explained? Based on a re-analysis of 94 electoral surveys in eight Western European countries between 1956 and 2009, this article shows that the difference in national election turnout between the half of the population with the lowest level of education and the half with the highest has increased. It shows that individualisation – the decline of social integration and social control – is a major cause of this trend. In their electoral choices, citizens with fewer resources – in terms of education – rely more heavily on cues and social control of the social groups to which they belong. Once the ties to these groups loosen, these cues and mobilising norms are no longer as strong as they once were, resulting in an increasing abstention of the lower classes on Election Day. In contrast, citizens with abundant resources rely much less on cues and social control, and the process of individualisation impacts on their participatory behaviour to a much lesser extent. The article demonstrates this effect based on a re-analysis of five cumulative waves of the European Social Survey.

A Swiss paradox? Higher income inequality of municipalities is associated with lower mortality in Switzerland.

It has long been surmised that income inequality within a society negatively affects public health. However, more recent studies suggest there is no association, especially when analyzing small areas. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of income inequality on mortality in Switzerland using the Gini index on municipality level. The study population included all individuals >30 years at the 2000 Swiss census (N = 4,689,545) living in 2,740 municipalities with 35.5 million person-years of follow-up and 456,211 deaths over follow-up. Cox proportional hazard regression models were adjusted for age, gender, marital status, nationality, urbanization, and language region. Results were reported as hazard ratios (HR) with 95 % confidence intervals. The mean Gini index across all municipalities was 0.377 (standard deviation 0.062, range 0.202-0.785). Larger cities, high-income municipalities and tourist areas had higher Gini indices. Higher income inequality was consistently associated with lower mortality risk, except for death from external causes. Adjusting for sex, marital status, nationality, urbanization and language region only slightly attenuated effects. In fully adjusted models, hazards of all-cause mortality by increasing Gini index quintile were HR = 0.99 (0.98-1.00), HR = 0.98 (0.97-0.99), HR = 0.95 (0.94-0.96), HR = 0.91 (0.90-0.92) compared to the lowest quintile. The relationship of income inequality with mortality in Switzerland is contradictory to what has been found in other developed high-income countries. Our results challenge current beliefs about the effect of income inequality on mortality on small area level. Further investigation is required to expose the underlying relationship between income inequality and population health.

Développement de l'écotourisme dans la région de Mananara-Nord et du Triangle Bleu, Littoral Nord-Est, Madagascar: Concept de travail

Concept de travail du projet de développement de l'écotourisme dans la région de Mananara-Nord et du Triangle Bleu, Littoral Nord-Est, Madagascar: objectifs de l'étude, résultats attendus, approche choisie, étapes du travail.

Développement de l'écotourisme dans la région de Mananara-Nord et du Triangle Bleu: Rapport sur le concept de travail, l'étude bibliographique, l'étude régionale préliminaire et les enquêtes en Suisse

Rapport sur l'étude préliminaire du projet de développement de l'écotourisme dans la région de Mananara-Nord et du triangle bleu.

Développement de l'écotourisme dans la région de Mananara-Nord et du Triangle Bleu

Final project report: research results and strategy for the promotion of ecotourism in the Blue Triangle Region of Madagascar.

Développement de l'écotourisme dans la région du Triangle Bleu, Littoral Nord-Est de Madagascar: Collecte de données auprès de voyagistes en Suisse

Rapport des enquêtes menées en Suisse quant au secteur de l'écotourisme: tendances, entretiens auprès des voyagistes en Suisses et des touristes à Madagascar.