ABSTRACT
The conflict value scale includes items which ask the respondent to appraise his or her role as a leader in a community confronted with opposition. In the national study of Western elites the same two dimensions were used—referred to as political "liberty" and equality. Local elites in the unitary European systems certainly have a great deal of orientation and loyalty to their own cities and communes. Sweden also has elites with stronger commitment on the conflict and economic equality scales. Special attention was given to the democratic values of elites, particularly mass participation, and political conflict or contestation. Value scale percentages are absolutist and suppress the variations within the scale. The local leaders in the several Western democracies are obviously strongly supportive of the democratic political values concerning conflict and participation, much more so than in non-Western societies. Values are indeed linked to elite thinking about politics and to their status in the system and to their behavior.
