I went 60-40 in favour of equality, perhaps partly because that's my preference and I suspect many of my peers would be similar, having me falsely weigh that side more heavily, I guess.
I had guessed that 60% preferred freedom and 40% preferred equality. The age and gender differences are interesting and in some ways not surprising. I associate equality with a more left leaning politics and freedom with a more right leaning politics. Your study seems to mirror other data on the left-right split between women and men. I consider myself centre-left (to which I now have to add the words "whatever that means") but as an older male, I seem to fit your findings about gender and age. Thank you for your work on this and many other issues.
The finding that older men are the ones shifting toward "freedom" challenges the usual narrative about youth polarization. This actually tracks with the Hansard transcripts from the recent debates on the Online Harms Act. The arguments prioritizing "freedom" came almost exclusively from the senior members of the Opposition, while the "equality" framing was much more common among the newer MPs. The parliamentary record is matching your data on this generational divide perfectly.
I guessed 75% equality. I based that guess on the complement of those who vote CPC, minus some conservatives who value equality. Boy was I surprised it was about 50-50.
I went 60-40 in favour of equality, perhaps partly because that's my preference and I suspect many of my peers would be similar, having me falsely weigh that side more heavily, I guess.
I had guessed that 60% preferred freedom and 40% preferred equality. The age and gender differences are interesting and in some ways not surprising. I associate equality with a more left leaning politics and freedom with a more right leaning politics. Your study seems to mirror other data on the left-right split between women and men. I consider myself centre-left (to which I now have to add the words "whatever that means") but as an older male, I seem to fit your findings about gender and age. Thank you for your work on this and many other issues.
Thanks Bernie - that's a nice comment (and a good guess!). And we'll get to the left-right difference in Part 3.
The finding that older men are the ones shifting toward "freedom" challenges the usual narrative about youth polarization. This actually tracks with the Hansard transcripts from the recent debates on the Online Harms Act. The arguments prioritizing "freedom" came almost exclusively from the senior members of the Opposition, while the "equality" framing was much more common among the newer MPs. The parliamentary record is matching your data on this generational divide perfectly.
I guessed 75% equality. I based that guess on the complement of those who vote CPC, minus some conservatives who value equality. Boy was I surprised it was about 50-50.