Ideologies in Europe – Evidence from 38 Countries

During the 20th century, it became popular in Europe to believe that the age of ideologies had ended. However, recent evidence suggests that ideologies still play a significant role in shaping political discourse and public opinion. This study aims to empirically examine the values and beliefs associated with liberal and conservative ideologies among the European public. More specifically, it seeks to identify the values and ideas that Europeans associate with liberal and conservative labels, and the factors that influence these associations. The analysis is based on survey data from 38 European countries and measures assessments of 20 values and ideological elements. Multi-level regression models were used to analyse the influence of individual-level variables, such as ideological self-position and demographic characteristics, and macro-level factors, such as country’s ideological orientation and level of development. The results reveal that while some values strongly align with liberal (e.g. gender equality, cultural diversity) or conservative (e.g. strict laws, military spending) ideologies, many like freedom, equality and environmental protection, are considered applicable to both. The results also highlight that individuals tend to evaluate statements based on their own ideological beliefs. That is, liberals systematically evaluated all values as more liberal and conservatives as more conservative. Overall, the findings suggest that ideologies in Europe contain overlapping liberal and conservative elements. While there are identifiable ideological values, their boundaries are flexible, and contextual factors heavily influence whether these values are perceived as liberal or conservative.