ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the technological and structural origins of postindustrial politics. It looks at how changing values intervene between technological and structural change and change in political culture. The chapter also examines specific political orientations, such as social liberalism and economic liberalism. The transition to a post-industrial society has both technological and social structural dimensions. This transition includes progress in informational and other technologies and change in the social structure—both in the social organization of the workplace and of the larger society. The chapter identifies post-industrial changes in three areas of life: the economy, education, and the dissemination of information. It considers trends in four types of citizen political orientations: social liberalism, economic liberalism, issue priorities, and political activism. Both liberal- and conservative-resonating social issues have moved in the opposite direction from economic issues since the 1960s. To interpret cross-national differences, however, patterns that predate the 1960s demand consideration along with post-1960s trends.
