C. P. Middendorp

Bio: C. P. Middendorp is an academic researcher from Erasmus University Rotterdam. The author has contributed to research in topics: Authoritarianism & Public policy. The author has an hindex of 6, co-authored 9 publications receiving 141 citations.

Left-right self-identification and (post)materialism in the ideological space; their effect on the vote in the Netherlands

Abstract: Left-right self-identification appears to be associated in the Dutch electorate with the two dimensions comprising the ‘ideological space’: socio-economic (egalitarian) left-right ad politico-cultural libertarianism-authoritarianism. This study shows the stable two-dimensionality of this ‘space’. Thus, left-right self-identification seems to lack unambiguous content validity. It is only the best predictor of the vote if the parties are ordered according to the mean positions of their supporters on the socio-economic left-right ideological dimension. When the parties are ordered along the other dimension of the space (the libertarian-authoritarian dimension), religion (church attendance) proves to be the best predictor. Religion and authoritarianism prove to be stronger predictors of left-right self-identification rather than social class and socio-economic left-right ideology. (Post)materialism only plays a modest role regarding predicting either the left-right or the authoritarian vote, although this construct overlaps with libertarian-authoritarian ideology (e.g. Flanagan, 1987). Thus, neither left-right self-identification nor (post)materialism seem fruitful approaches to the realm of ideology and values. The results of this study challenge both for example, the Niemoller-Van der Eijk (1987) position on left-right self-identification and the Van Deth-Geurts (1989) position on (post)materialism.

Models for Predicting the Dutch Vote along the Left-Right and the Libertarianism-Authoritarianism Dimensions

Abstract: There are two "fundamental dimensions of ideological contro versy" in The Netherlands which are stable through the period 1970-85: socio-economic left-right, with egalitarian implications, and libertarianism-authoritarianism with the underlying value of freedom. Both dimensions are "belief systems" based on highly interrelated attitude scales, and both are "sustained" by stable philosophical dimensions: socialism and liberalism for the left-right dimension, conservatism and authoritarianism for the libertarian-authoritarian dimension. The ordering of political parties by means of average scores of their supporters is different on each dimension. Then, obviously, two sets of causal models can be developed, with party preference along each dimension as the dependent variable. The models developed in this study contain social characteristics (age, education, income, class and religion), philosophical dimensions, ideologi cal dimensions and, in addition, left-right and progressive-conservative self-identifica...

The authoritarianism of the working class revisited

Abstract: . Dekker and Ester's (1987) position regarding working class authoritarianism, using Wright's (1979, 1985) neo-marxist class-conceptualization, is challenged. It is shown in replication that Wright's class concepts are only weakly and non-linearly related to ‘class-proxies’such as income, wealth, educational level and subjective social class. Thus there is reason for doubt regarding the validity of Wright's class-concept, which might be partly responsible for the weak associations found with authoritarianism and authoritarian attitudes. Nevertheless, we found that Dekker and Ester's (1987) hypotheses 1 and 2 cannot be rejected: the working class is somewhat more authoritarian than all other classes combined. We maintain that the well-known relatively strong relationship between educational level and authoritarianism remains of major theoretical and social relevance.

On the conceptualization of theoretical constructs

Abstract: An attempt is made to bridge the gap between the ‘theorists’ and ‘modellists’ approaches to the conceptualization of theoretical constructs. The former approach assumes that every theoretical construct has a ‘surplus meaning’ over and above its operationalization and measurement as a ‘concept’. The latter approach denies this: it only accepts ‘theoretical constructs’ as functions of relations between observations, i.e. measured concepts.

Economic voting in the Netherlands

Abstract: . An attempt to integrate various previous approaches to economic voting is made and several LISREL-models were tested in the Netherlands. We found that, like in most American studies, voters' experience with and evaluation of government policies' effects on the National Economic Condition are a more important determinant of the vote than voters' evaluation of the effects of government policies on one's Personal Economic Condition. Different models for various social classes were found (cf. Weatherford, 1978), but ‘self-reliants’had similar determinants of the vote as compared to ‘government reliants’. The specifying effect of ‘party identification’on the vote was discussed. It seems that about 10–15% of the Dutch vote can be considered determined by economic evaluations, mainly of the perception of government policies' effect on the National Economic Condition (NEC).

A biographical note

Abstract: Post-modernism has brought about changing demands with respect to time in work organisations. Whilst the impact of this has been given some attention at both the organisational and individual level far less has been given to a consideration of the extent to which individual differences might moderate the impact of such changes. In order to proceed with this line of enquiry it is necessary first to be able to measure individual differences related to time. This paper, through an analysis and synthesis of existing measures of individual attitudes/approaches to time, a subsequent qualitative study, and large quantitative survey study (N=683) identifies a five factor structure for time-related individual differences (Time Personality) and reports on the development of five complementary measurement scales : Leisure Time Awareness, Punctuality, Planning, Polychronicity and Impatience. A series of reliability and validity studies indicate that the scales are psychometrically sound. The findings are discussed in the context of the role Time Personality might play in moderating the effects that differing organisational structures and changing work demands might have in organisational settings.

When Politics and Models Collide: Estimating Models of Multiparty Elections

Abstract: Theory: The spatial model of elections can better be represented by using conditional logit models which consider the position of the parties in issue spaces than by multinomial logit models which only consider the position of voters in the issue space. The spatial model, and random utility models in general, suffer from a failure to adequately consider the substitutability of parties sharing similar or identical issue positions. Hypotheses: Multinomial logit is not necessarily better than successive applications of binomial logit. Conditional logit allows for considering more interesting political questions than does multinomial logit. The spatial model may not correspond to voter decision-making in multiple party settings. Multinomial probit allows for a relaxation of the IIA condition and this should improve estimates of the effect of adding or removing parties. Methods: Comparisons of binomial logit, multinomial logit, conditional logit, and multinomial probit on simulated data and survey data from multiparty elections. Results: Multinomial logit offers almost no benefits over binomial logit. Conditional logit is capable of examining movements by parties, whereas multinomial logit is not. Multinomial probit performs better than conditional logit when considering the effects of altering the set of choices available to voters. Estimation of multinomial probit with more than three choices is feasible

Value orientations, political conflicts and left-right identification: A comparative study

Abstract: . Have the meanings of ‘left’ and ‘right’ changed during the last twenty years? In this article the ten-point left-right self-placement scale is correlated with three central value orientations (religious/secular, economic left-right and materialist/post-materialist values) to examine whether associations between these value orientations and the self-placement scale have changed from the early 1970s to 1990. Four theories about the changing meaning of the left-right language are presented. These theories about the irrelevance, persistence, transformation and pluralisation of the meaning of left and right are tested by using Eurobarometer data from eight West European countries and the second wave of the European Value Study from 1990. The data provide strong support for pluralisation theory. Left-right semantics have an impressive absorptive power, describing an over-arching spatial dimension capable of incorporating many types of conflict. Left-right semantics are significantly correlated with religious/secular values, remain highly correlated with the dominant industrial value orientations (economic left-right values), and are increasingly associated with materialist/post-materialist value orientations. The new meanings of left and right are added to the old meanings.

The new right and the welfare state: The electoral relevance of welfare chauvinism and welfare populism in the Netherlands:

Abstract: Next to their well-documented authoritarian cultural agenda, new-rightist populist parties have developed specific views on the welfare state: welfare chauvinism and welfare populism. This article studies the electoral relevance of these views for Dutch new-rightist populist parties by means of survey data representative of the Dutch population (N = 1972). The electorate of those parties shows high levels of both welfare chauvinism and welfare populism. However, only welfare populism underlies support for new-rightist populist parties in addition to well-known cultural motives. Based on these findings, ideological and electoral competition between political parties is discussed, and suggestions for further research are provided.

Explicating the Construct of Psychopathy: Development and Validation of a Conceptual Model, the Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality (CAPP)

Abstract: Psychopathic personality disorder (PPD) has important clinical and forensic implications. But much more effort has been devoted to assessing or diagnosing PPD than to explicating or defining it. In the first part of this paper, we describe the development of a conceptual model or “concept map” of PPD. Based on a systematic review of descriptions of PPD in the clinical and research literature, as well as consultation with subject matter experts, we identified key features of the disorder and translated them into 33 symptoms, presented as natural language (i.e., non-technical) trait descriptive adjectives or adjectival phrases. Each symptom in turn was defined by three synonymous adjectives or adjectival phrases. The 33 symptoms were grouped rationally to reflect six domains of personality functioning. In the second part of the paper, we discuss research completed and in progress intended to validate the CAPP conceptual model.