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In The Joyless Economy: An Inquiry into Human Satisfaction and Consumer Dissatisfaction (1976), Tibor Scitovsky questioned the assumption that human happiness will be augmented if the level of consumption rises or becomes more uniform over time. Analysis of the 1990-1993 World Values Survey suggests that his doubts were well founded. Although economic gains apparently make a major contribution to subjective well-being as one moves from societies at the subsistence level to those with moderate levels of economic development, further economic growth seems to have little or no impact on subjective well-being. This transition seems to reflect a basic cultural change that results in the diminishing marginal utility of economic growth. 5 Figures, 15 References. Adapted from the source document.

THIS ARTICLE RESPONDS TO TWO CENTRAL QUESTIONS ABOUT VALUE CHANGE THAT ARE RAISED BY OTHER ARTICLES IN THIS VOLUME: (1) ARE POLITICAL CLEAVAGES IN WESTERN SOCIETY GRADUALLY BEING TRANSFORMED FROM THE TRADITIONAL PATTERN BASED ON SOCIAL CLASS AND RELIGION, TOWARD ONE THAT INCREASINGLY REFLECTS THE POLARIZATION BETWEEN MATERIALIST AND POSTMATERIALIST GOALS? (2) HAS AN INTERGENERATIONAL VALUE SHIFT BEEN TAKING PLACE IN RECENT DECADES-OR DO THE OBSERVED DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE PRIORITIES OF OLD AND YOUNG SIMPLY REFLECT AN UNCHANGING LIFE CYCLE PATTERN? COHORT ANALYSIS BASED ON MORE THAN 140,000 INTERVIEWS CARRIED OUT AT NUMEROUS TIME POINTS FROM 1970 THROUGH 1984 DEMONSTRATES THAT A LONG-TERM PROCESS OF INTERGENERATIONAL VALUE CHANGE WAS TAKING PLACE, BASED ON STRONG INTERCOHORT DIFFERENCES THAT PERSISTED THROUGHTOUT THE TUMULTOUS ECONOMIC UPS AND DOWNS OF THE PAST 14 YEARS. ADDITIONAL EVIDENCE INDICATES THAT THIS PROCESS HAS HAD A MAJOR IMPACT ON POLITICAL CLEAVAGES, CHANGING THE POLITICAL MEANING OF LEFT AND RIGHT, AND THE ISSUES AND SOCIAL GROUPS ASSOCIATED WITH THESE TERMS.

JAN VAN DETH'S PENETRATING CRITIQUE OF THE THEORY OF VALUE CHANGE PRESENTED IN THE SILENT REVOLUTION RAISES SOME KEY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE NATURE OF VALUE CHANGE AND RELATED MEASUREMENT PROBLEMS (SEE PP. 63-79 OF THIS VOLUME). IT ALSO PRESENTS SIGNIFICANT NEW EVIDENDCE ABOUT THE INDIVIDUAL-LEVEL STABILITY OF MATERIALIST /POSTMATERIALIST VALUES, BASED ON A RECENT DUTCH PANEL SURVEY. VAN DETH CONCLUDES THAT EITHER THE THEORY, OR THE INSTRUMENT USED TO MEASURE MATERIALIST/POST-MATERIALIST VALUES, MUST BE MODIFIED. HIS CONCLUSION IS BASED ON TWO MAIN FINDINGS; FIRST, HE FINDS EVIDENCE OF A SHIFT TOWARD INCREASED MATERIALISM IN HIS DUTCH PANEL SURVEY FROM 1974 TO 1979; HE CONSIDERS THIS TO BE INCOMPATIBLE WITH THE MATERIALIST/POST-MATERIALIST THESIS. SECOND, HE FINDS UNSTABLE RESPONSES AMONG THOSE RESPONDENTS WHO ARE INTERESTED IN POLITICS: FROM THIS, HE CONCLUDES THAT THE INSTRUMENT IS NOT RELIABLE, AND THAT IT DOES NOT REALLY MEASURE VALUES. VAN DETH'S INTERPRETATION OF THESE FINDINGS SEEMS ACCURATE AND INSIGHTFUL IN MANY RESPECTS, BUT IT REFLECTS AN INCORRECT ASSUMPTION AND AN INADEQUATE DATA BASE, EACH OF WHICH SERIOUSLY DISTROTS HIS CONCLUSIONS.

THIS ARTICLE TESTS THE HYPOTHESIS THAT POSTWAR AFFLUENCE LED TO AN INTERGENERATIONAL SHIFT FROM MATERIALIST TO POSTMATERIALIST VALUES AMONG WESTERN PUBLICS, AND ANALYZES THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY PREVAILING SINCE 1973. TIME-SERIES DATA INDICATE THAT THE YOUNG EMPHASIZING POST-MATERIALIST VALUES MORE THAN THE OLD REFLECTS GENERATIONAL CHANGE FAR MORE THAN AGING EFFECTS.

This article responds to two critiques of the value change thesis in this issue. Davis and Davenport claim that the four-item index developed by Inglehart is invalid because respondents' first and second choices are randomly related and that it fails to predict respondents' positions on theoretically relevant social issues. We maintain that they make unwarranted assumptions about how responses to ipsative items should be related and demonstrate that the value indicators are powerful predictors. Clarke et al. argue that the trend toward postmaterialism does not result from long-term generational change but simply reflects declining inflation and rising unemployment over the past quarter-century. We show that period effects, particularly inflation, influence observed values. But after controlling for inflation, there is still a substantial shift toward postmaterialism. Moreover, rising unemployment partly offsets the effect of falling inflation. (American Political Science Review / FUB)

Argues that recent & substantial global changes -- particularly the demise of communism, the development of new democracies, & new conflicts over environmental & immigration issues in advanced industrial societies -- raise questions about the meaning & importance of Right-Left ideology. Drawing on 1993 questionnaire data from 343 political scholars in 42 countries, examined are (1) the use of Right & Left language, (2) the existence of secondary dimensions orthogonal to the Left-Right dimension of political conflict, & (3) issues defining Left-Right ideology. Empirical data on the Left-Right domains of political parties in the 42 countries are also presented. It is concluded that, although the Left-Right dimension can be located in most political systems, its connotations differ according to a society's political & economic conditions. 4 Tables, 2 Appendixes, 33 References. M. Grounds

CONSTITUTIONAL DESIGN PROCEEDS UNDER THE ASSUMPTION THAT INSTITUTIONS HAVE PREDICTABLE CONSEQUENCES, BUT MODERN POLITICAL SCIENCE HAS NOT PURSUED THE EMPIRICAL VERIFICATION OF THESE PREDICTED CONSEQUENCES WITH MUCH VIGOR. THE AUTHOR ATTEMPTS TO LINK THE THEORETICAL PREMISSES UNDERLYING ONE IMPORTANT ASPECT OF CONSTITUTIONAL DESIGN, THE AMENDMENT PROCESS, WITH THE EMPIRICAL PATTERNS REVEALED BY A SYSTEMATIC, COMPARATIVE STUDY OF CONSTITUTIONS. AN EXAMINATION OF ALL AMENDMENTS IN THE 50 AMERICAN STATES SINCE 19776 REVEALS PATTERNS THAT ARE THEN CONFIRMED USING DATA FROM 32 NATIONAL CONSTITUTIONS. THE INTERACTION OF THE TWO KEY VARIABLES AFFECTING AMENDMENT RATE CAN BE DESCRIBED BY AN EQUATION THAT GENERATES PREDICTED AMENDMENT RATES CLOSE TO THOSE FOUND IN THE CROSS-NATIONAL EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS. A CONSTITUTION'S LENGTH MEASURED IN NUMBER OF WORDS, THE DIFFICULTY OF AN AMENDMENT PROCESS, AND THE RATE OF AMENDMENT TURN OUT TO HAVE INTERLOCKING CONSEQUENCES THAT ILLUMINATE PRINCIPLES OF CONSTITUTIONAL DESIGN.