ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses only three theories of universal values: postmaterialism; trust theory; and the New Culture theory. Theories of universal values raise the interesting question of whether one really can find common values across countries. The analysis of universal values presents somewhat different methodological problems than the inquiry into ethnicity and religion. Cultural items may be identified as universal ones in two entirely different ways: either through the analysis of behaviour or through the examination of attitudes. The basic idea is that the stronger the civic community, the higher is the probability that institutional performance will be different – that is, better. Returning to the Putnam approach to Italy, we stress that trust should be measured as a set of attitudes, if one has access to survey data. The theory of postmaterialism claims, however, that there is a new value dimension besides the old materialist one.
