Level and Trend of Social Cohesion

Abstract

This chapter presents our empirical evidence on the level and trend of social cohesion in 34 Western societies, as studied in four time periods between 1989 and 2012. The country ranking on the overall index of cohesion reveals a strikingly clear geographical pattern in the most recent period: in descending order, Northern Europe, North America and Oceania, Western Europe, Southern Europe and Central and Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe. The comparison across time shows that social cohesion is a by-and-large stable characteristic of societies. We additionally provide the relative country standings and changes over time on the three domain indices and the nine constituent dimensions of cohesion. Some dimensions such as social networks and trust in people appear relatively stable, whereas others such as trust in institutions and acceptance of diversity exhibit more pronounced fluctuations. In that the chapter offers a comparative overview on the evolution of social cohesion from different perspectives. It further highlights particular country-specific deviations from the overall pattern.