tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/public-attitudes-27817/articlesPublic attitudes – The Conversation2023-09-22T12:30:15Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2136352023-09-22T12:30:15Z2023-09-22T12:30:15ZNazi Germany had admirers among American religious leaders – and white supremacy fueled their support<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549198/original/file-20230919-19-unvudq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=3%2C1%2C1019%2C789&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Thousands of people attend a pro-Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden in New York in May 1934, with counterprotestors outside. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/approximately-20-000-people-attend-a-pro-nazi-germany-rally-news-photo/2961927?adppopup=true">Anthony Potter Collection/Hulton Archive via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Each September marks the anniversary of <a href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/the-nuremberg-race-laws">Nazi Germany’s Nuremberg Laws</a>, whose passage in 1935 stripped Jews of their German citizenship and banned “race-mixing” between Jews and other Germans. </p>
<p>Eighty-eight years later, the United States is facing <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/antisemitic-incidents-on-rise-across-the-u-s-report-finds">rising antisemitism</a> and <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/article/white-supremacy-returned-mainstream-politics/">white supremacist ideology</a> – including two <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/florida-neo-nazis-chant-above-freeway-sickening-frightening-video-1825481">neo-Nazi demonstrations</a> in Florida <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/neo-nazi-groups-spew-hate-disney-world-orlando-officials-say-rcna103186">in September 2023 alone</a>.</p>
<p>The Nuremberg Laws were a critical juncture on the Third Reich’s path toward bringing about “<a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691172422/hitlers-american-model">the full-scale creation of a racist state … on the road to the Holocaust</a>,” according to <a href="https://law.yale.edu/james-q-whitman">legal historian James Whitman</a>. Yet across the Atlantic, many Americans were unconcerned, and even admiring – including some religious leaders.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://abroad.gmu.edu/profiles/mgarrit2">a political scientist</a> and <a href="https://sociology.sas.upenn.edu/people/melissa-wilde">a sociologist</a>, we wanted to examine what Americans thought about Hitler and the National Socialist Party before the U.S. entered World War II – and see what lessons those findings might hold for our country today. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-4446.13020">Our recent research</a>, which focused on religious publications, suggests that Americans’ support for Nazi Germany is best explained by belief in white supremacy.</p>
<h2>View from the pulpit</h2>
<p>In 1935, Adolf Hitler entered his third year in power and legally solidified the Nazi regime’s racist policies. During this period, Jews, Romani, homosexuals, the mentally or physically disabled and African-Germans were all targets of Hitler’s wrath. Thousands of refugees fled the country in search of safety – <a href="https://exhibitions.ushmm.org/americans-and-the-holocaust/how-many-refugees-came-to-the-united-states-from-1933-1945">many to U.S. shores</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549199/original/file-20230919-21-i48mvg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A faded chart shows many small circles in varying percentages of black and white." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549199/original/file-20230919-21-i48mvg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549199/original/file-20230919-21-i48mvg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549199/original/file-20230919-21-i48mvg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549199/original/file-20230919-21-i48mvg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549199/original/file-20230919-21-i48mvg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549199/original/file-20230919-21-i48mvg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549199/original/file-20230919-21-i48mvg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Chart from Nazi Germany showing the regime’s racial categorizations under the Nuremberg Laws of 1935.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/chart-from-nazi-germany-explaining-the-nuremberg-laws-of-news-photo/113494189?adppopup=true">Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>Individual public opinion data about Nazi Germany is not available for this period; Gallup’s first survey on the topic <a href="https://news.gallup.com/opinion/polling-matters/232949/american-public-opinion-holocaust.aspx">was conducted in 1938</a>. Instead, we used a database of periodicals from religious organizations that one of us, Wilde, had originally compiled for a book on <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520303218/birth-control-battles">views of contraception</a> in the early 20th century. Using these periodicals, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-4446.13020">we examined the views</a> of leaders in 25 of the United States’ most prominent religious groups.</p>
<p>In the 1930s, the U.S. was a far more religious country than it is today, with around 95% of Americans claiming membership in a religious denomination. The groups in our sample include <a href="https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/7MAKH">82% of Americans who reported religious membership</a> at the time. Most are white Protestant denominations, but our sample also included Roman Catholics, three Jewish groups, Black churches, and smaller groups like Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. </p>
<p>We argue that while these texts are not necessarily representative of individual members’ views, they are evidence of the views religious elites tried to cultivate in large segments of the American population.</p>
<h2>‘Unequaled in cruelty’</h2>
<p>These periodicals dispel the notion that Americans did not know, or understand, the gravity of the situation in Germany at the time. A third of the denominations <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-4446.13020">in our sample</a> were critical of Hitler, and their alarm demonstrates that ample information was available about the escalating situation in Nazi Germany. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549196/original/file-20230919-21-q820hy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A yellow and white illustration of a man's head next to a swastika, with his eyes covered by the phrase 'business as usual.' The bottom says 'America open your eyes!'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549196/original/file-20230919-21-q820hy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549196/original/file-20230919-21-q820hy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549196/original/file-20230919-21-q820hy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549196/original/file-20230919-21-q820hy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=755&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549196/original/file-20230919-21-q820hy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=949&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549196/original/file-20230919-21-q820hy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=949&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549196/original/file-20230919-21-q820hy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=949&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A poster designed by Jean Carlu for Fortune magazine in 1941.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/america-open-your-eyes-poster-by-jean-carlu-news-photo/526779530?adppopup=true">swim ink 2 llc/Corbis Historical via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>These groups, which were both Christian and Jewish, wrote about “the omnipresent terror that grips every town and hamlet”; the German concentration or “education camps”; and the number of people jailed, sent to camps, killed or sterilized. Leaders of Conservative Judaism warned that “German Jewry is on the way to extinction.” The Universalist General Convention described the situation in Germany as “unequaled in cruelty and brutality even by the Spanish Inquisition.”</p>
<p>On the other end of the spectrum, religious leaders from the Norwegian Lutheran Church, which has long since merged with other denominations, emphasized that Hitler was <a href="https://archive.nytimes.com/learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/19/aug-19-1934-german-voters-approve-hitler-as-fuhrer/">legitimately elected</a> and enjoyed strong support among the German people. Another article recounted a recent trip to Germany, writing that “what we interpret as militarism” is a manifestation of support for “the program of Hitler” and “the common good.” The Presbyterian Church in the U.S. – a white Southern denomination that later merged with other Presbyterian denominations – wrote of Hitler’s regime <a href="https://archive.org/details/sim_presbyterians-today_1935-05_25_5/page/262/mode/2up">making “effort[s] toward social justice”</a> with reforms for illegitimate children.</p>
<p>And while some religious elites sympathetic to Hitler acknowledged that the Nazis’ tactics were unsavory, they suggested “the means do not, taken by themselves, condemn the end.”</p>
<h2>Finding the pattern</h2>
<p>As we analyzed the periodicals, we classified leaders’ writings into four categories. Beyond groups that clearly sympathized with Hitler or criticized him, the largest number were ambivalent, with mixed views. Others were “distant,” barely commenting on events in Europe. </p>
<p>We found that two main factors <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-4446.13020">explain religious elites’ views of Hitler in 1935</a>. The first is whether their group embraced white supremacist ideas. The second is whether they were atop the religious hierarchy – that is, mainstream Protestant denominations whose members would not have been at risk of persecution in Germany.</p>
<p>Groups that consistently criticized Hitler had members that were marginalized because of their race or ethnicity. They regularly spoke out against prejudice, segregation and lynching. In contrast, denominations that were well established and mostly white tended to be ambivalent toward Nazism, even those that spoke out against anti-Black racism in the U.S. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549195/original/file-20230919-17-92dpkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black and white photo shows a row of pushcarts on a sidewalk, their wares covered up by cloths." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549195/original/file-20230919-17-92dpkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549195/original/file-20230919-17-92dpkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549195/original/file-20230919-17-92dpkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549195/original/file-20230919-17-92dpkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549195/original/file-20230919-17-92dpkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549195/original/file-20230919-17-92dpkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549195/original/file-20230919-17-92dpkb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=507&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Jewish pushcart workers on New York’s Lower East Side participated in a two-hour protest in 1933, refusing to make sales, during a day of mass demonstrations against the persecution of German Jews.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/on-the-day-of-gigantic-mass-demonstrations-in-many-american-news-photo/515129434?adppopup=true">Bettmann via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>But a few groups, five in total, did more than express ambivalence – they openly sympathized with Hitler. What united these groups were white supremacist beliefs. Their periodicals included articles titled “The Fitness of the Anglo-Saxon” and “Why the Anglo Saxon,” emphasizing “men are born equal in their rights, but they are not equal in their fitness and ability to serve … God needed the white Anglo-Saxon race.”</p>
<p>Importantly, the groups that supported Hitler were also antisemitic and eugenicists, believing human beings could be “perfected” through selective breeding. </p>
<p>However, antisemitism <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/0031322X.1998.9970245">was rampant at the time</a>, even among groups that were ambivalent about Hitler. Similarly, <a href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/eugenics">support for eugenics</a> was too broad to explain why certain religious groups in the U.S. sympathized with the Nazis. There were even religious leaders who criticized Hitler yet had connections to <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520303218/birth-control-battles">the American Eugenics Movement</a>, which promoted forced sterilization laws and, later, the legalization of birth control.</p>
<p>Instead, what most strongly differentiated Hitler’s sympathizers in this era was <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-4446.13020">their belief in white supremacy</a> vis-a-vis African Americans. These groups published literature claiming that African Americans were physically and mentally inferior, and one wrote positively of the Ku Klux Klan. A Southern Baptist bishop wrote, “The Negro is not like the white man … there are striking differences physical and mental,” going on to claim, “the white race … assumes its superiority in strength and capacity.”</p>
<h2>Fast-forward</h2>
<p>Although 1935 is nearly a century behind us, U.S. politics has been awash in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/11/us/donald-trump-nazi-comparison.html">comparisons to the Third Reich</a> for several years now. Former President Donald Trump recently <a href="https://newrepublic.com/post/174773/trump-whines-nazi-germany-third-indictment">compared his indictments to Nazi Germany</a>, obfuscating the mass atrocities of Hitler’s regime. </p>
<p>But such comparisons do prompt reflection on what drove American support for Nazi Germany in the 1930s, as Trump campaigns with <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/elections/2023/04/21/trump-agenda-policies-2024/">an authoritarian vision</a> for his second term, and as <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/white-nationalism-remains-major-concern-for-voters-of-color-and-appears-to-be-connected-ideologically-to-the-growing-christian-nationalism-movement/">white nationalism</a> remains a major aspect of U.S. politics.</p>
<p>In 1935, Europe was not at war, and concern about mass killings would have seemed alarmist. Yet just a few years later, a global conflagration began. On the anniversary of the Nuremberg Laws, what motivated American support for Hitler’s authoritarianism in the 1930s still resonates today.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/213635/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Melissa Wilde received funding from the Louisville Foundation and the University of Pennsylvania for the data connected to this research.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Meghan Garrity does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Two social scientists analyzed periodicals from US religious leaders in 1935 to determine what factors influenced groups’ sympathy, ambivalence or outrage about Hitler and Nazi Germany.Meghan Garrity, Assistant Professor of International Security & Law, George Mason UniversityMelissa J. Wilde, Professor and Chair of Sociology, University of PennsylvaniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2120962023-08-24T06:53:49Z2023-08-24T06:53:49ZBushfires focus public attention on climate change for months, but it’s different for storms and floods<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/544457/original/file-20230824-19-tr3btm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=28%2C12%2C2717%2C1815&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/bush-fire-close-night-47274046">VanderWolf Images, Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the world warms and the climate changes, people are experiencing more frequent and intense extreme weather events. Just this year, <a href="https://theconversation.com/european-heatwave-whats-causing-it-and-is-climate-change-to-blame-209653">heatwaves blasted southern Europe</a>, the United States and China; wildfires lit up Greece, Canada and <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-is-sleepwalking-a-bushfire-scientist-explains-what-the-hawaii-tragedy-means-for-our-flammable-continent-211364">Maui in Hawaii</a>; and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-64061588">winter storms froze large parts of the US</a>. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-023-03601-5">new research</a> explores the connection between extreme weather events in Australia and public interest in climate change or global warming between 2009 and 2020. We found that bushfires, storms and floods tended to focus attention on climate change. But, crucially, the effect was short-lived and varied depending on the type of weather event. </p>
<p>In between extreme events, the level of interest in climate change does not appear to be increasing over time. This is despite developments in the science attributing extreme weather events to climate change, and the growing
<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17524032.2019.1687537?src=recsys">tendency of the media</a> to make these connections. </p>
<p>Climate activists and policymakers may be able to use these “focusing events” to raise awareness and harness support for stronger action. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Here’s how climate change is affecting Australian weather.</span></figcaption>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-so-many-climate-records-breaking-all-at-once-209214">Why are so many climate records breaking all at once?</a>
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<h2>Do bushfires, storms and floods garner attention?</h2>
<p>We collected data on extreme weather events from the <a href="https://knowledge.aidr.org.au/">Australian Disaster Resilience Knowledge Hub</a>, which is managed by the <a href="https://www.aidr.org.au/">Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience</a>. </p>
<p>We concentrated on the bushfires, storms and floods that occurred in Australia between 2008 and 2020.</p>
<p>Using the <a href="https://trends.google.com/trends/">Google Trends</a> intensity index to measure people’s attention, we analysed the use of the search terms “climate change” and “global warming” in the months following each event.</p>
<p>We found more searches for climate change and global warming during the month of, and immediately after, an extreme weather event. </p>
<p>However, such heightened attention was rather short-lived. And there were differences in the intensity and duration of this attention, depending on the type of weather event. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/yes-climate-change-is-bringing-bushfires-more-often-but-some-ecosystems-in-australia-are-suffering-the-most-211683">Yes, climate change is bringing bushfires more often. But some ecosystems in Australia are suffering the most</a>
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<p>Major bushfires generated intense and sustained interest. During the month of a major bushfire, attention to climate change increased. The level of attention was higher still one month after the bushfire, and remained elevated for about four months. </p>
<p>Extreme storms prompted the most intense search activity but the effect did not last long. Attention to climate change dissipated one month after the storm. </p>
<p>Major flooding events did not appear to generate significant attention to climate change. This suggests Australians are more likely to think of climate change in terms of its tendency to cause hotter, drier weather, and less inclined to appreciate how it can cause wetter weather as well. </p>
<p>Although there is a growing trend within the media to underscore the connection between extreme weather events and climate change over the past decade, this does not seem to be generating more climate attention. For instance, while the Black Summer bushfires drove an exceptional uptick in climate attention, the same occurred during the Black Saturday bushfires a decade earlier.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/heres-why-climate-change-isnt-always-to-blame-for-extreme-rainfall-206958">Here's why climate change isn't always to blame for extreme rainfall</a>
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<h2>It’s worth paying attention to attention</h2>
<p>Australia has been described as “<a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/climate-change-and-the-end-of-australia-238860/">the petri-dish of climate change</a>”. Our continent is prone to a variety of severe climate impacts such as droughts, floods, fires, storms and coral bleaching, and yet we’re also one of the world’s worst <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09644016.2021.1905394">climate laggards</a>.</p>
<p>Understanding how Australians respond to extreme weather events could serve as a much-needed catalyst for national climate progress. </p>
<p>But increased climate ambition is not guaranteed to flow from these destructive events. That’s because climate attention is quite short-lived, and not always as intense as one might hope. </p>
<p>We believe our research can help activists and policymakers capitalise on the increased intensity and duration of public interest in climate change following extreme events and translate that attention into a sustained appetite for climate policy action. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/fear-and-wonder-podcast-how-scientists-attribute-extreme-weather-events-to-climate-change-203559">Fear and Wonder podcast: how scientists attribute extreme weather events to climate change</a>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher Crellin receives funding from Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert MacNeil does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Public interest in climate change and global warming peaks after bushfires and lasts for months, research reveals. But Australians do not respond to storms and floods in the same way.Christopher Crellin, PhD Student / FNRS Aspirant, Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain)Robert MacNeil, Lecturer in Environmental Politics, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2108512023-08-03T16:45:39Z2023-08-03T16:45:39ZNet zero: direct costs of climate policies aren’t a major barrier to public support, research reveals<p>Amid headlines of wildfires raging across Europe and Africa and flooding in China, the UK government took the bewildering choice to expand fossil fuel extraction.</p>
<p>Prime minister Rishi Sunak declared that more than 100 new oil and gas drilling licences would be granted for the North Sea in 2023, sparking <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/31/dismay-as-rishi-sunak-vows-to-max-out-uk-fossil-fuel-reserves">widespread criticism</a> and incredulity from climate experts, business leaders and some within his own party. The latest announcement follows other indications that the UK government is reviewing its <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1033990/net-zero-strategy-beis.pdf">climate commitments</a>, spurred by a byelection victory that was won in part by opposing London’s ultra-low emission zone (Ulez).</p>
<p>Much of this backsliding relies on dubious logic: that the economic costs of green policies, and how they affect people’s lives, make them damaging for the UK and will always lose votes. As researchers who study public attitudes towards such policies, we are quite sure these arguments from the government don’t hold water.</p>
<p>First, inaction on climate change costs more than action, as established nearly two decades ago in the landmark <a href="https://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/publication/the-economics-of-climate-change-the-stern-review/">Stern review</a>. The economic case has only strengthened since, with this year’s <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/net-zero-review-uk-could-do-more-to-reap-economic-benefits-of-green-growth">Skidmore review</a> making clear the considerable opportunities for the UK in a net zero transition, including the potential creation of almost half a million green jobs.</p>
<p>Second, the government’s reluctance to intervene in people’s lives with climate policies does not reflect <a href="https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/one-four-britons-think-climate-change-out-control">public opinion</a>. There is actually UK-wide support for net zero policies – including those that would involve lifestyle changes. Crucially, the public <a href="https://thinksinsight.com/the-net-zero-diaries-a-citizen-perspective-on-tackling-the-climate-emergency/">wants and needs</a> the government to show clear and consistent leadership on climate change.</p>
<h2>Behaviour changes are essential</h2>
<p>Scientific assessments, including the latest <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/assessment-report/ar6/">report</a> by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and analyses by the UK’s statutory advisers on climate policy, the <a href="https://www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/The-Sixth-Carbon-Budget-The-UKs-path-to-Net-Zero.pdf">Climate Change Committee</a>, show that new technologies alone will not be sufficient for the country to hit its carbon targets.</p>
<p>Most measures to reach net zero require people to make at least some changes to their daily routines, including limiting car use, eating less red meat and dairy, buying electric vehicles and heat pumps, and reducing waste. Likewise, businesses will need to change their behaviour too.</p>
<p>While the scale of the necessary lifestyle changes is <a href="https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/ipsos-perils-perception-climate-change">not well understood</a> by the public, people are willing to play their part in a net zero transition. Polling shows public concern about climate change has remained high throughout <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2018936118">the pandemic</a> and the <a href="https://cast.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/CAST-Briefing-17.pdf">cost of living crisis</a>. Most people worldwide <a href="https://www.ipsos.com/en/earth-day-2023-concern-and-focus-slipping-climate-change">agree</a> that changes to our behaviour are necessary to tackle climate change.</p>
<p>Our research also shows that the UK public is broadly on board with net zero, including measures that would involve lifestyle changes. With the market research company Ipsos, we polled more than 5,000 people across the UK on their attitudes to a range of net zero policies. Our findings indicated high levels of public support (in both <a href="https://www.ipsos.com/sites/default/files/ct/publication/documents/2022-06/net-zero-living-ipsos-cast-2022.pdf">2021</a> and <a href="https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/uk-public-still-broadly-supports-most-net-zero-policies">2022</a>) for most of them, with support strongest for frequent flyer levies, changing product prices to reflect environmental impacts, phasing out gas boilers, and electric vehicle subsidies.</p>
<h2>How to maintain public support</h2>
<p>It’s true that support drops when people are asked to consider the costs of climate policies. For example, while 68% support the general idea of charging frequent flyers more for each additional flight they take in a year, when the financial costs to the individual are spelled out, support falls to 32% (and opposition rises from 16% to 33%).</p>
<p>This is perhaps no surprise. Previous research showed that even mentioning a very modest cost can make people less likely to support a policy, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-019-0217-x">including climate measures</a>.</p>
<p>On the other hand, emphasising the <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30312911/">effectiveness</a> or wider benefits of climate policies can increase support for them. <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nclimate2814">One study</a> conducted across 24 countries showed that highlighting additional benefits, such as cleaner air or stronger social cohesion, increased a person’s motivation to take action on climate change.</p>
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<img alt="A parent with a child on their shoulders silhouetted against a wind farm at dusk." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541006/original/file-20230803-25-e09g42.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/541006/original/file-20230803-25-e09g42.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541006/original/file-20230803-25-e09g42.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541006/original/file-20230803-25-e09g42.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541006/original/file-20230803-25-e09g42.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541006/original/file-20230803-25-e09g42.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/541006/original/file-20230803-25-e09g42.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Money is only one factor in determining public attitudes to climate measures.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/silhouette-father-son-clipping-path-hard-1965838294">Blue Titan/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Even more important for public acceptance is how fair a policy is seen to be, as revealed both by <a href="https://www.ipsos.com/sites/default/files/ct/publication/documents/2022-06/net-zero-living-ipsos-cast-2022.pdf">our research</a> and other <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01297-6">studies</a>. Indeed, fairness was a key topic in the Ulez debate during the Uxbridge byelection, where drivers of older vehicles were seen by some as being unfairly penalised and inadequately supported, for instance through scrappage schemes.</p>
<p>The fact that <a href="https://climateoutreach.org/reports/fairness-climate-advocacy/">fairness</a> can mean different things to different people highlights the need for the government to <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/969428/net-zero-public-engagement-participation-research-note.pdf">engage with the public</a> when designing climate policies. Deliberative processes such as <a href="https://www.climateassembly.uk/recommendations/www.climateassembly.uk/report/">climate assemblies</a> can help with this.</p>
<p>There are other important factors. <a href="https://cast.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/CM_UOB_49-CAST-Report_v5_FINAL_27.9.22.pdf">Workshops</a> we held across the UK showed that public support for net zero policies remains high as long as people feel they still have personal choice, their freedoms are protected, and they trust those who are implementing the policies. We found only very restrictive policies are opposed, such as mandating meat-free diets, no flying or a car-free lifestyle.</p>
<h2>Win-win policies</h2>
<p>The fluidity of public support for climate action highlights the importance of a clear vision and consistent leadership from the government. Instead of rolling over at the first hint of controversy, political leaders should present a vision of a sustainable future that everyone can work towards, involving a stable climate, cleaner air, and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-021-01219-y">healthier lifestyles</a>. Licensing new oil and gas drilling obviously runs counter to this.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-asked-the-british-public-what-they-really-think-about-net-zero-heres-what-we-found-210766">We asked the British public what they really think about net zero – here's what we found</a>
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<p>While the UK government may shy away from promoting climate-friendly behaviour changes because they equate them with sacrifice, in fact, people with <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1462901122000776">low-carbon lifestyles tend to be happier</a> than those <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/6/3673">who consume more</a>. And at a time of economic hardship, the UK government could focus efforts on measures that at once reduce energy bills and also cut emissions – for example, through support for home insulation.</p>
<p>Making behaviour change policies convenient and affordable <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/30146/documents/174873/default/">requires governments to intervene</a> with regulations and incentives. A clearly communicated vision to keep the public on board, and a <a href="https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/30146/documents/174873/default/">programme of public engagement</a> that creates an honest, society-wide dialogue on net zero and a sense of collective effort, is essential to their success.</p>
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<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><strong><em>Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?</em></strong>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lorraine Whitmarsh receives funding from the Economic & Social Research Council (ERC) and the European Research Council (ERC). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Caroline Verfuerth receives funding from the Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC) and has previously received funding from the Welsh Government.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steve Westlake does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Reneging on climate commitments indicates the UK government’s misreading of public attitudes.Lorraine Whitmarsh, Professor of Environmental Psychology, University of BathCaroline Verfuerth, Research Associate, Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations, Cardiff UniversitySteve Westlake, Research Associate, Climate Leadership, Cardiff UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1470692020-11-13T14:00:17Z2020-11-13T14:00:17Z200 years ago, people discovered Antarctica – and promptly began profiting by slaughtering some of its animals to near extinction<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363986/original/file-20201016-23-n65p2x.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C9%2C3072%2C1945&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Workmen dissecting a whale carcass in Antarctica, circa 1935</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/workmen-dissecting-a-whale-carcass-in-antarctica-news-photo/3310716">Hulton Archive via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Two hundred years ago, on Nov. 17, Connecticut ship captain <a href="https://doi.org/10.2307/210532">Nathaniel Palmer spotted the Antarctic continent</a>, one of three parties to do so in 1820. Unlike explorers Edward Bransfield and Fabian von Bellingshausen, Palmer was a sealer who quickly saw economic opportunity in the rich sealing grounds on the Antarctic Peninsula.</p>
<p>In the two centuries since, Antarctica has seen a range of commercial, scientific and diplomatic developments. While <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/frozen-empires-9780190249144?cc=us&lang=en&">some countries attempted to claim territory on the continent</a> in the first half of the 20th century, today the region is governed through the international <a href="https://www.ats.aq/index_e.html">Antarctic Treaty System</a>. </p>
<p>Although the treaty claims to govern Antarctica in the interests of all “mankind,” some countries have gained greater benefits from the region than others. While mining is currently banned under the Antarctic Treaty and the days of sealing and whaling are over, Antarctica’s marine living resources are still being exploited to this day.</p>
<h2>Fur and blubber</h2>
<p>Palmer was followed by a rush of other sealing ships, mostly from the United States and Britain, that methodically killed fur seals along Antarctic beaches, <a href="https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000684110">swiftly taking populations to the brink of extinction</a>. Seal fur was used for clothing in the 18th and 19th centuries in many parts of the world and was an important part of <a href="https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=27054">U.S. and European trade with China</a> in the 19th century.</p>
<p>Fur sealing had a real boom-and-bust quality. Once a region was picked over, the sealers would move to more fruitful grounds. Before 1833, at least <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Sealing_in_the_Southern_Oceans_1788_1833.html?id=kkyfuAAACAAJ">7 million fur seals were killed in the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic</a>. As early as 1829, British naturalist James Eights lamented the loss of the fur seal on the Antarctic peninsula: “<a href="https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/000684110">This beautiful little animal was once most numerous here</a>.” </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363782/original/file-20201015-17-1fdyso8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Watercolor painting depicting an Antarctic landscape with a man in the foreground swinging an ax into the bloody carcass of a seal." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363782/original/file-20201015-17-1fdyso8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363782/original/file-20201015-17-1fdyso8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363782/original/file-20201015-17-1fdyso8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363782/original/file-20201015-17-1fdyso8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=446&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363782/original/file-20201015-17-1fdyso8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=560&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363782/original/file-20201015-17-1fdyso8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=560&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363782/original/file-20201015-17-1fdyso8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=560&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">‘The Antarctic Butcher’ painted by Standish Backus, 1956.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/art/exhibits/exploration-and-technology/antarctica-operation-deep-freeze-i-1955-56/life-in-camp/the-antarctic-butcher.html">U.S. Naval Art Collection</a></span>
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<p>Elephant seals were also hunted, but for their blubber, which could be converted into oil. It was not difficult for hunters to drive them to the beaches, lance them through the heart (or, later, shoot them in the skull), drain their blood and remove their blubber. “We left the dead things, raw and meaty, lying on the beach,” <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/South_Latitude.html?id=a-Nzlo95OrsC">according to one sealer</a>. The <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Sealing_in_the_Southern_Oceans_1788_1833/kkyfuAAACAAJ?hl=en">birds would pick the skeletons clean within days</a>. </p>
<p>Sealing rapidly declined in the 1960s, owing to a mix of evolving cultural sentiments and changing availability of other materials, such as plastics, that could be made into warm synthetic clothing and petroleum-based lubricants. </p>
<p>The broadcast of <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/new-rules-to-protect-seals">footage showing Canadian sealing in the early 1960s</a> scandalized North American and European citizens and <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?id=oCSQDwAAQBAJ&source=gbs_navlinks_s">prompted a quick shift in attitudes toward sealing</a>. The Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals was signed in 1972, regulating the large-scale slaughter of seals for all nations in the region. Today, the population of <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/2058/66993062">fur seals has rebounded</a>, with a <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/2058/66993062#population">colony of over 5 million</a> on South Georgia alone, though numbers have declined since 2000. Elephant seals, too, have largely rebounded, with an <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/13583/45227247">estimated stable population of 650,000</a> since the mid-1990s. </p>
<h2>Blood-red water</h2>
<p>The whaling grounds off Antarctica were so rich they drew fleets from many nations. First came Norwegian and British companies, later to be joined by others from Germany, Russia, the Netherlands and Japan. Whaling had occurred in the Southern Ocean in the 19th century, but it wasn’t until the first half of the 20th century that <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_History_of_Modern_Whaling.html?id=-miE3r5DgPUC">whales were hunted to near extinction there</a>. </p>
<p>In the 19th century, whale oil was used primarily for lamp fuel. But after 1910, <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_History_of_Modern_Whaling.html?id=-miE3r5DgPUC">new uses were found for the oil</a>, including <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/The_History_of_Modern_Whaling.html?id=-miE3r5DgPUC">as industrial lubricants and edible fats</a>. </p>
<p>Whaling became extremely lucrative for a small group of companies, including <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-is-margarine-made-of">Unilever, whose early fortunes were built from margarine made with whale oil</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363989/original/file-20201016-13-1hrvkq1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Three whale carcasses in various stages of dismemberment are on the deck of a large ship with men working on them." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363989/original/file-20201016-13-1hrvkq1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/363989/original/file-20201016-13-1hrvkq1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=735&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363989/original/file-20201016-13-1hrvkq1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=735&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363989/original/file-20201016-13-1hrvkq1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=735&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363989/original/file-20201016-13-1hrvkq1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=924&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363989/original/file-20201016-13-1hrvkq1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=924&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/363989/original/file-20201016-13-1hrvkq1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=924&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Aboard a Japanese whaling ship near Antarctica, 1962.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/south-pole-a-japanese-whaling-1962-news-photo/1182685696">Marka/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span>
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<p>At first, whales killed at sea had to be brought to a shore station to be processed. <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Great_Waters.html?id=lyMGwgEACAAJ">In 1925, an observer wrote</a>, “What an appalling stench it is…The water in which the whales float, and on which we too are riding, is blood red.” From the late 1920s on, these <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/S/bo9845648.html">shore stations were replaced by pelagic whaling stations</a>, where whales were processed more efficiently on factory ships at sea.</p>
<p>In 1946, some international efforts were made to protect whales. The goal of the <a href="https://archive.iwc.int/pages/view.php?ref=3607&k=">International Whaling Commission</a> created that year was “to provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks and thus make possible the orderly development of the whaling industry.” </p>
<p>But, again in the 1960s, public attitudes toward whales, like seals, began to change when environmentalists revealed they were highly intelligent, sociable creatures that <a href="https://www.npr.org/2014/12/26/373303726/recordings-that-made-waves-the-songs-that-saved-the-whales">sang in the ocean depths</a>. Most nations ceased whale hunting in the Antarctic by the end of the 1960s – because of this consciousness and also because there were inexpensive alternatives to whale products. </p>
<h2>Fishing</h2>
<p>Antarctica’s rich marine life continues to be exploited today. <a href="https://www.ccamlr.org/en/organisation/fishing-ccamlr">Krill and toothfish began to be fished in the 1970s</a>. </p>
<p>Krill, <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/invertebrates/group/krill/">a small shrimp-like crustacean</a>, is used in nutritional supplements and pet foods. <a href="https://www.ccamlr.org/en/fisheries/krill-%E2%80%93-biology-ecology-and-fishing">Norway, China, South Korea and Chile are its biggest harvesters</a>. Toothfish, which has been marketed as Chilean sea bass, is on menus worldwide. </p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>Since 1982, the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources has managed these fisheries with the overriding goal of maintaining the whole ecosystem. Whales, seals, birds and other fish rely on krill, making them essential to the Antarctic marine ecosystem. </p>
<p>While krill and toothfish are currently both plentiful in the Antarctic, it is unclear how much the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-05372-x">reduction of sea ice and the changing migration patterns of predators</a> who feed on these species are affecting their populations.</p>
<p>Historically and currently, only a small number of people have profited from Antarctica’s living resources, at the great expense of animal populations. Even if sustainable harvesting is possible now, climate change is rapidly undermining Antarctic’s ecological stability. </p>
<p>While major <a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/victories/creating-the-world-park-antarctica/">environmental campaigns try to raise awareness</a> of Antarctica’s fragility, most consumers of its products likely do not even know their provenance. Whale and seal populations continue to recover from past overexploitation, but the future impacts of current fishing practices and climate change are uncertain.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/147069/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alessandro Antonello receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daniella McCahey does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>For 200 years, a small number of countries have exploited the marine wildlife of Antarctica, often with devastating impact on their populations.Daniella McCahey, Assistant Professor of History, Texas Tech UniversityAlessandro Antonello, Senior Research Fellow in History, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1489912020-11-11T19:19:42Z2020-11-11T19:19:42ZPandemic widens gap between government and Australians’ view of education<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/368770/original/file-20201111-17-jbe33f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5591%2C3724&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rawpixel/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The COVID-19 pandemic is changing Australians’ view of public education, our analysis of <a href="https://www.australianleadershipindex.org">Australian Leadership Index (ALI)</a> data shows. In contrast to the government’s instrumental view of education, with its focus on producing “<a href="https://www.dese.gov.au/job-ready">job-ready graduates</a>”, the public now takes a wider view of education as a <a href="https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_good">public good</a>.</p>
<p>Public education, such as public schools and universities, is understood as serving the interests of the many, not the few. And the importance of ethics and accountability has only become more pronounced throughout the pandemic.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/3-flaws-in-job-ready-graduates-package-will-add-to-the-turmoil-in-australian-higher-education-147740">3 flaws in Job-Ready Graduates package will add to the turmoil in Australian higher education</a>
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<p>The <a href="https://www.australianleadershipindex.org">Australian Leadership Index</a> has tracked <a href="https://theconversation.com/blunders-aside-most-australians-believe-state-premiers-have-been-effective-leaders-during-pandemic-147998">public perceptions of leadership</a> across a number of sectors, including public education, since 2018. We analysed ALI scores for public education through three periods – before COVID, first wave and second wave. </p>
<h2>An intensifying debate about education</h2>
<p>Since the pandemic began, debate about the role of education and its contribution to the public good has intensified. Universities have been at the centre of this debate.</p>
<p>Between January and March, before COVID-19 hit our shores, universities were in the public spotlight due to their <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/victorian-universities-offer-fee-discounts-for-chinese-students-affected-by-coronavirus-20200227-p544us.html">reliance on international student fees</a>.</p>
<p>In this period, the <a href="https://www.australianleadershipindex.org/about/">ALI score</a> (our indexed measure of leadership) for public education dipped into the negative (-2) for the first time since we began tracking in September 2018.</p>
<p>During the first wave of COVID-19 (March-June), public discourse focused on the role of universities in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/27/covid-vaccine-uk-oxford-university-astrazeneca-works-in-all-ages-trials-suggest">finding a vaccine</a>. At the same time, the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-is-the-australian-government-letting-universities-suffer-138514">exclusion of universities from the JobKeeper program</a> forced them into cost-cutting, with implications for <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-universities-face-losing-1-in-10-staff-covid-driven-cuts-create-4-key-risks-147007">research output</a>. More recently, news of <a href="https://theconversation.com/wage-theft-and-casual-work-are-built-into-university-business-models-147555">wage theft in universities</a> <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-05/university-of-melbourne-exposed-in-decade-long-wage-theft-case/12519588"> hit the headlines</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/as-universities-face-losing-1-in-10-staff-covid-driven-cuts-create-4-key-risks-147007">As universities face losing 1 in 10 staff, COVID-driven cuts create 4 key risks</a>
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<p>Despite these challenges, the ALI score for education recovered strongly. It hit a peak (+19) in the June quarter and stabilised in the September quarter (+15). </p>
<iframe title="Education leadership ratings over time" aria-label="Interactive line chart" id="datawrapper-chart-8pKvB" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/8pKvB/1/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border: none;" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<h2>Education and the public good</h2>
<p>Over the past few months, the federal government has brought in sweeping changes intended to encourage students to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The stated aim is to produce “<a href="https://theconversation.com/3-flaws-in-job-ready-graduates-package-will-add-to-the-turmoil-in-australian-higher-education-147740">job-ready graduates</a>” to fuel economic recovery. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-government-is-making-job-ready-degrees-cheaper-for-students-but-cutting-funding-to-the-same-courses-141280">The government is making ‘job-ready’ degrees cheaper for students – but cutting funding to the same courses</a>
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<p>By contrast, our data show the Australian public takes a wider view of education. </p>
<p>Drawing on nationally representative surveys from September 2018 to September 2020, we statistically modelled how nine different factors have influenced public perceptions of leadership in education institutions.</p>
<p>We then plotted the importance of each factor (vertical axis) against the proportion of Australians who agree education is performing well on that factor (horizontal axis). The results show which factors are important in driving perceptions of education leadership, and also how the sector performs against them. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/368533/original/file-20201110-21-1v4o26q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/368533/original/file-20201110-21-1v4o26q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/368533/original/file-20201110-21-1v4o26q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/368533/original/file-20201110-21-1v4o26q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/368533/original/file-20201110-21-1v4o26q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/368533/original/file-20201110-21-1v4o26q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/368533/original/file-20201110-21-1v4o26q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/368533/original/file-20201110-21-1v4o26q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Vertical axis shows results of analysis that models impact of each of nine drivers on perceptions of leadership for the greater good. Horizontal axis shows proportion of Australians who believe education institutions show leadership for the greater good to a ‘fairly large’ or ‘extremely large’ extent. Mid points on each axis represent the average importance/performance across the nine drivers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Australian Leadership Index</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>Notably, Australians see accountability, ethicality and creating social value as highly important for education institutions. The sector performs well against these factors. </p>
<p>By contrast, responsiveness to the needs of society and creating economic value are also important, but the sector underperforms against these factors. </p>
<p>In short, Australians believe that <em>how</em> public education creates value – through demonstrable commitments to ethics and accountability – is as important as the <em>type</em> of value it creates. This reflects an understanding that serving the <a href="https://theconversation.com/whose-interests-why-defining-the-public-interest-is-such-a-challenge-84278">public interest</a> is as much about process as it is about outcome. </p>
<p>Overall, these results suggests a marked discrepancy between how the government and Australians view public education.</p>
<h2>How views changed through the pandemic</h2>
<p>Our data (click on the table to enlarge it) show how Australians’ view of public education changed through the course of the pandemic. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/368767/original/file-20201111-13-qybjoy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/368767/original/file-20201111-13-qybjoy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/368767/original/file-20201111-13-qybjoy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=308&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/368767/original/file-20201111-13-qybjoy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=308&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/368767/original/file-20201111-13-qybjoy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=308&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/368767/original/file-20201111-13-qybjoy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/368767/original/file-20201111-13-qybjoy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/368767/original/file-20201111-13-qybjoy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<p>In the period before COVID (January-March), the sector’s apparent accountability, responsiveness to society, and a focus on economic value creation had the most influence on perceptions of the sector’s leadership. </p>
<p>In the first wave (April-June), ethics and balancing the needs of different groups became more important. Accountability, economic value creation and responsiveness to societal needs were also important. Performance scores improved across all five factors. </p>
<p>This possibly reflects the optimistic discourse around vaccine research, producing job-ready graduates and an element of sympathy for universities, as <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/universities-sound-alarm-after-denied-greater-access-to-wage-subsidy-20200406-p54hhc.html">university staff</a> lost their jobs and <a href="https://www.afr.com/policy/health-and-education/government-attitude-may-risk-international-student-sector-20200403-p54gxf">international students</a> were <a href="https://theconversation.com/4-out-of-5-international-students-are-still-in-australia-how-we-treat-them-will-have-consequences-145099">left to fend for themselves</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/no-one-would-even-know-if-i-had-died-in-my-room-coronavirus-leaves-international-students-in-dire-straits-144128">'No one would even know if I had died in my room': coronavirus leaves international students in dire straits</a>
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<p>In the second wave (July-September), the focus shifted away from the sector’s economic contributions and its responsiveness to society. Instead, ethics, accountability and balancing the needs of different groups became most important. </p>
<p>Performance scores for balancing the needs of different groups decreased. This possibly reflects the changes to tertiary education funding, which triggered backlash from both domestic and international students.</p>
<h2>Rethinking the role of universities</h2>
<p>Australians have important decisions to make on the role of public education. Rather than positioning public education and universities as a panacea for economic recovery, a wider view is required. </p>
<p>Universities are uniquely positioned to serve the public good. The purpose of education leadership itself has been described as being “<a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9780429261947">as and for public good</a>”. This insight is reflected in the actions of university benefactors, who are motivated by a belief in the <a href="https://www.swinburne.edu.au/news/2020/10/its-in-the-national-interest-to-fund-research.html/">public good that only universities can create</a>.</p>
<p>Although philanthropic support is vital, it is in the national interest to properly fund universities to enable them to serve and enhance the public good as only universities can.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/148991/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Melissa Wheeler has engaged in paid and pro-bono consulting and research relating to issues of applied ethics and gender equality (e.g., Our Watch, Queen Victoria Women’s Centre, VicHealth). She has previously worked for research centres that receive funding from several partner organisations in the private and public sector, including from the Victorian Government. She receives philanthropic funding for the Australian Leadership Index.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jason Pallant receives philanthropic funding for the Australian Leadership Index.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Samuel Wilson receives philanthropic funding for the Australian Leadership Index.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Timothy Colin Bednall receives philanthropic funding for the Australian Leadership Index. He is a Fellow of the APS College of Organisational Psychologists.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vlad Demsar receives philanthropic funding for the Australian Leadership Index.</span></em></p>The way in which Australians think about leadership in the education sector has changed throughout the pandemic. It’s seen as a public good, with ethics and accountability gaining in importance.Melissa A. Wheeler, Senior Lecturer, Department of Management and Marketing, Swinburne University of TechnologyJason Pallant, Lecturer of Marketing, Swinburne University of TechnologySamuel Wilson, Senior Lecturer in Leadership, Swinburne University of TechnologyTimothy Colin Bednall, Senior Lecturer in Management, Swinburne University of TechnologyVlad Demsar, Lecturer of Marketing, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1222022019-08-22T20:05:36Z2019-08-22T20:05:36ZGM crops: to ban or not to ban? That’s not the question<p>The South Australian government recently announced its intention to lift the long-standing statewide moratorium on genetically modified (GM) crops, following a <a href="https://pir.sa.gov.au/primary_industry/genetically_modified_gm_crops/gm_review">statutory six-week consultation period</a>. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://pir.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/339225/Independent_Review_of_the_South_Australian_GM_Food_Crop_Moratorium.pdf">government-commissioned independent review</a> had estimated the cost of the moratorium at A$33 million since 2004 for canola alone. The review concluded there was no clear market incentive to uphold the ban, except on Kangaroo Island.</p>
<p>In contrast, the <a href="https://dpipwe.tas.gov.au/agriculture/2018-review-of-tasmanias-gmo-moratorium">Tasmanian government announced that its GM moratorium would be extended for 10 years</a>. It cited the state’s GM-free status as an important part of the “Tasmanian brand”, representing a market advantage, particularly for food exports. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/safety-first-assessing-the-health-risks-of-gm-foods-26099">Safety first – assessing the health risks of GM foods</a>
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<p>Research and commercial growing of GM crops in Australia is <a href="https://theconversation.com/setting-the-standards-who-regulates-australian-gm-food-25533">regulated under a national scheme</a>, but governed by individual states. These recent and mooted changes leave Tasmania as the only state with a blanket ban on GM organisms.</p>
<p>The science underlying genetic modification is complex and evolving. A <a href="https://www.science.org.au/education/immunisation-and-climate-change/genetic-modification-questions-and-answers">recent report</a> by an expert working group convened by the Australian Academy of Science (to which I contributed) documented the broad consensus among many professional organisations, including the World Health Organization, that <a href="https://theconversation.com/safety-first-assessing-the-health-risks-of-gm-foods-26099">GM foods and medicines are safe</a>. No ill-effects have been identified relating to human consumption, and GM foods produced so far are no different to unmodified foods in terms of safety and digestibility. </p>
<p>However, the report also highlights that this scientific evidence does not provide answers to all concerns raised by GM technologies. The public’s understanding of this issue is <a href="https://theconversation.com/perceptions-of-genetically-modified-food-are-informed-by-more-than-just-science-72865">shaped by a complex range of factors and values</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/perceptions-of-genetically-modified-food-are-informed-by-more-than-just-science-72865">Perceptions of genetically modified food are informed by more than just science</a>
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<p>Many people’s opinions about GM foods and crops are related to their <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14636778.2017.1287561">views on what constitutes acceptable risk</a>. There is no one right way to measure risks, and various scientific disciplines have different ways of weighing them up. For example, does the lack of evidence of harm mean we can conclude GM food is safe to eat? Or do we need positive evidence of safety? </p>
<p>That second question hinges in part on whether GM foods are seen as substantially equivalent to their non-GM counterparts. This has been a matter of significant debate, especially in regard to <a href="https://theconversation.com/making-a-meal-of-gm-food-labelling-28339">food labelling</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/making-a-meal-of-gm-food-labelling-28339">Making a meal of GM food labelling</a>
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<p>This in turn begs the further question of how long we should wait before declaring GM food safe. The very word “moratorium” implies that the ban is temporary and subject to review, but opinions differ widely about what constitutes an adequate period for rigorous testing and accumulation of evidence regarding the safety of emerging technologies.</p>
<p>People also have <a href="https://theconversation.com/perceptions-of-genetically-modified-food-are-informed-by-more-than-just-science-72865">diverse views</a> on the role of multinational corporations in agriculture and GM-related research, and concerns about the potential pressure these firms may put on farmers. Many people view the benefits of GM crops as mainly commercial, and perceive a lack of public benefit in terms of health, the environment, or food quality. </p>
<p>Some people question whether we need GM crops at all, especially as they are viewed by some as “unnatural”. Others note that their views depend on the underlying reasons for the modification, so that GM crops with potential environmental advantages might be more publicly acceptable than ones that deliver purely commercial advantages.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Understanding the science is important - but not the whole story.</span></figcaption>
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<p>When people form opinions on complex issues based not solely on science, it is tempting to assume that this is because they simply don’t understand the science. But of course science doesn’t happen in the abstract – rather, it plays into our everyday decisions made in a wider context. </p>
<p>So if we want to engage people in policy decisions relating to science, we must <a href="https://theconversation.com/because-we-can-does-it-mean-we-should-the-ethics-of-gm-foods-28141">widen the scope of our conversations beyond the mere technical details to focus on underlying values</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/because-we-can-does-it-mean-we-should-the-ethics-of-gm-foods-28141">Because we can, does it mean we should? The ethics of GM foods</a>
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<p>The contrasting decisions in South Australia and Tasmania offer an opportunity for Australians to deepen their understanding of, and engagement with, issues relating to genetic modification. Public debates have tended to focus on the science behind gene modification and the potential risks associated with the resulting products. But they have generally paid less attention to the broader issues relating to environmental, economic, social, cultural, and other impacts. </p>
<p>We need a more sophisticated dialogue about GM food, as part of a wider societal conversation about <a href="https://theconversation.com/tastes-like-moral-superiority-what-makes-food-good-59581">what makes good food</a>. We should ask what types of farming we want to prioritise and support, rather than viewing it as a binary issue of being simply “for” or “against” GM crops.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/122202/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rachel A. Ankeny has received funding for research relating to public understandings of GM from the former Australian Government Department of Industry, Innovation, Science and Research’s National Enabling Technologies Strategy’s (NETS) Public Awareness and Community Engagement Program, administered by the Government of South Australia, Science and Information Economy, Department of Further Education, Employment, Science and Technology (DFEEST), and from the Australian Research Council. She also has received funding from food industry related organisations for social science research related to agriculture and food attitudes/choices, including Grain Growers SA, AgriFutures Australia, Australian Eggs Ltd, Coles Group Ltd, Elders Limited, Richard Gunner’s Fine Meats Pty Ltd, and the South Australian Research and Development Institute. Prof Ankeny is a current member of the GM Crop Advisory Committee for the Government of South Australia and a past member of the Commonwealth Office of the Gene Technology Regulator's Gene Ethics and Community Consultative Committee (and formerly of the Gene Ethics Committee). She has served on expert working groups on food, agriculture, and genetic technologies for the Australian Academy of Science and the Australian Council of Learned Academies. The University of Adelaide, at which Prof Ankeny is employed, has numerous scientific research programs focused on various aspects of GM, but she is not directly involved in any of this research.</span></em></p>South Australia has lifted its moratorium on GM crops, while Tasmania has extended its ban. But the question should no longer be a simple binary of being “for” or “against” GM technology.Rachel A. Ankeny, Professor of History and Philosophy, and Deputy Dean Research (Faculty of Arts), University of AdelaideLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/763992017-04-20T08:06:46Z2017-04-20T08:06:46ZAustralians largely support science, but not all see the benefits<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/166004/original/file-20170420-2398-1ds6c4v.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Australians support science, but nuanced views are found amongst people with differing incomes and education. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/136723121?src=6DeSKlGV3R_COkITYXoYTQ-1-3&size=huge_jpg">from www.shutterstock.com </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Scientists in Australia (and across the world) will take to the streets for the <a href="https://www.marchforscience.com/">March for Science</a> on April 22. It’s timely, therefore, to discover Australians overwhelmingly support the role of science in policymaking and society. </p>
<p>Released this week, the most recent <a href="http://politicsir.cass.anu.edu.au/content/innovation-science-and-business">ANUpoll</a> has surveyed Australians’ attitudes on a range of science plus research and development policy issues. The poll surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,200 Australian adults via telephone (60% mobile and 40% landline phones) in November 2016.</p>
<p>We found that 82% of Australians believe politicians should rely more on the advice of expert scientists. In an increasingly polarised and contested world, such unanimity is rare.</p>
<p>However, there are limits to this support, and challenges for Australian science in maintaining the support of both citizens and governments. </p>
<h2>Consistency over time</h2>
<p>Broad support of science is not necessarily a surprising result. <a href="http://politicsir.cass.anu.edu.au/sites/politicsir.anu.edu.au/files/2010-12-07_ANUpoll_science_0.pdf">Surveys have consistently</a> found Australians want politicians to take more heed of scientific advice. </p>
<p>Data from 2015 shows <a href="http://rsss.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/images/ANU_36078_APER_FA.PDF">more than 90%</a> of Australians are proud of the country’s scientific achievements. These figures are remarkably stable over the past 30 years, and are only matched by Australians’ pride in our national sporting achievements. Science seems integral to our national identity.</p>
<p>Moreover, we are largely sanguine about the role of science and technology in our everyday lives. Around <a href="http://politicsir.cass.anu.edu.au/sites/politicsir.anu.edu.au/files/ANUpoll_23_Innovation-Science_Business.pdf">seven in 10 Australians</a> agree that new technologies excite rather than concern them. A <a href="http://politicsir.cass.anu.edu.au/sites/politicsir.anu.edu.au/files/ANUpoll_23_Innovation-Science_Business.pdf">similar number (75%)</a> believe that the benefits of technological progress are greater than the risks. <a href="http://politicsir.cass.anu.edu.au/sites/politicsir.anu.edu.au/files/ANUpoll_23_Innovation-Science_Business.pdf">Even more (84%)</a> believe there should be more people working in research and technological development in Australia.</p>
<h2>Support, but with limits</h2>
<p>Looking more closely at these results helps to reveal the limits of this overwhelming support for science in Australian life. Surveys often enable respondents to express contradictory views within one questionnaire, or to express support for broad concepts but reticence towards individual policies or positions that seem to underpin those concepts.</p>
<p>In economic terms, we might think about this phenomenon as the difference between stated and revealed preferences. It is one thing to declare that we support “science”, but quite another to support policies that enable or promote scientific research, or collaboration between scientists and politicians.</p>
<p>For instance, <a href="http://politicsir.cass.anu.edu.au/sites/politicsir.anu.edu.au/files/ANUpoll_23_Innovation-Science_Business.pdf">almost half (42%)</a> of Australians either “agree” or “strongly agree” that scientific advances tend to benefit the rich more than they benefit the poor. This presents a challenge for scientists hoping to “defend the vital role science plays in our health, safety, economies, and governments” (that is, the <a href="https://www.marchforscience.com/">March for Science’s aims</a>).</p>
<p>Australians in the lowest income households are most likely to hold the view that that scientific advances tend to benefit the rich more than they benefit the poor. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/165980/original/file-20170420-2408-7mx9cv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/165980/original/file-20170420-2408-7mx9cv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=329&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165980/original/file-20170420-2408-7mx9cv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=329&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165980/original/file-20170420-2408-7mx9cv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=329&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165980/original/file-20170420-2408-7mx9cv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165980/original/file-20170420-2408-7mx9cv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165980/original/file-20170420-2408-7mx9cv.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Figure 1: Agreement with the statement ‘Scientific advances tend to benefit the rich more than they benefit the poor’ by self-reported gross annual household income.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jill Sheppard</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As shown in Figure 1, nearly one quarter of Australians living in a household with an annual income of less than A$20,000 “strongly agree” with this position, and a further 29% agree. This compares to 9% of those in households with an income of A$150,000 or more who strongly agree that scientific advances benefit the rich more than the poor, and 21% who agree with this position.</p>
<p>In other words, the lower an Australian’s household income, the more likely they believe that the benefits of science are not distributed equally. This seems an entirely rational concern; <a href="https://industry.gov.au/Office-of-the-Chief-Economist/Research-Papers/Documents/Research-Paper-7-Mechanical-boon.pdf">Australian government economists</a> warn that low-skilled employment and wages are threatened by technology and automation.</p>
<h2>The pace of change</h2>
<p>Similarly, <a href="http://politicsir.cass.anu.edu.au/sites/politicsir.anu.edu.au/files/ANUpoll_23_Innovation-Science_Business.pdf">45% of Australians</a> either agree or strongly agree that “technological change happens too fast for me to keep up with it”. An important factor in explaining this position is education: the more formal education Australians have received, the more comfortable they feel with the pace of technological change.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/165981/original/file-20170420-2431-2qz4bo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/165981/original/file-20170420-2431-2qz4bo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165981/original/file-20170420-2431-2qz4bo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165981/original/file-20170420-2431-2qz4bo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165981/original/file-20170420-2431-2qz4bo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165981/original/file-20170420-2431-2qz4bo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/165981/original/file-20170420-2431-2qz4bo.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Figure 2: Agreement with the statement ‘Technological change happens too fast for me to keep up with it’ by self-reported highest level of education.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jill Sheppard</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As shown in Figure 2, among the 148 respondents with a Year 10 education or lower (12% of the whole sample), 73% do not believe they can keep up with the pace of technological change. Among those with a postgraduate degree (14% of the sample), only 27% feel this way. </p>
<p>Age breakdowns tell a similar story: older Australians are overwhelmingly <a href="http://politicsir.cass.anu.edu.au/content/innovation-science-and-business">more concerned</a> than younger generations about the pace of technological change. </p>
<h2>Maintaining confidence in science</h2>
<p>The widespread goodwill for Australian science notwithstanding, this is a substantial problem for scientists trying to maintain the confidence of citizens and government. If perceptions place scientists as members of some kind of social and political elite, working to advance the cause of their fellow elites, public support will almost undoubtedly decay.</p>
<p>With the role of science in informing public debate and policymaking attracting attention in the lead up to the March for Science, it is heartening to note that science in Australia enjoys a comparatively privileged position. </p>
<p>However, focusing on the top-line rates of public support conceals subtleties lurking below the surface. Scientists in Australia – and elsewhere – will do well to heed to concerns of those who perceive they are missing out on scientific and technological progress.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/76399/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jill Sheppard has previously received funding from Australian governments and businesses for commissioned research.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Gray has received research funding from a wide range of Commonwealth, State and Territory government departments, community sector organisations and businesses.</span></em></p>Some Australians feel they are missing out on the benefits of scientific and technological progress.Jill Sheppard, Lecturer, School of Politics and International Relations, Australian National UniversityMatthew Gray, Director, ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/659562016-09-27T00:31:25Z2016-09-27T00:31:25ZOne in two favour Muslim immigration ban? Beware the survey panel given an all-or-nothing choice<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/139147/original/image-20160926-2437-xrilma.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Pauline Hanson claimed poll results showing high levels of opposition to Muslim immigration were understated.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Mick Tsikas</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>An <a href="http://www.essentialvision.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Essential-Report_160802_immigration.pdf">Essential Report poll</a> finding that 49% of Australians want to ban Muslim immigration received <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/immigration/muslim-migrant-ban-backed-by-almost-half-australians-poll-shows/news-story/fe65dc9cc7018e545539e32b11029385">extensive</a> <a href="http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/breaking-news/poll-suggests-49-back-muslim-migrant-ban/news-story/892bc9b802ec08deab0d2769362ba927">media</a> <a href="http://time.com/4502458/australia-ban-muslim-immigration/">coverage</a> last week. In addition to general reporting, Essential’s executive director, Peter Lewis, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/sep/21/progressives-can-attract-hanson-supporters-but-not-by-insulting-them">wrote in The Guardian</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The result floored me.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Less surprised was commentator Ray Hadley <a href="https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiv_pCVrqzPAhUCKJQKHVLjDncQFggbMAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailytelegraph.com.au%2Fnews%2Fopinion%2Fpoll-knocks-the-socks-off-the-lattesipping-lefties%2Fnews-story%2F04e4c1b1b78bb702580ebaccaff34e51&usg=AFQjCNHDW5m47NUKK7skBibGj45uLfYV_w&bvm=bv.133700528,d.dGo">in The Daily Telegraph</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The left-leaning café latte sippers were left scratching their heads this week when an Essential poll revealed …</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Senior journalists, including from Fairfax Media, and politicians took the findings at face value. Labor’s deputy leader, Tanya Plibersek, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/sep/22/muslim-immigration-poll-result-due-to-poor-leadership-says-tanya-plibersek">saw the survey</a> as proof that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We’re not doing a good enough job as national leaders to bring harmony and cohesion to our community.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Among the few to question the result was new Labor MP Anne Aly. <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/this-is-not-the-australia-i-know-first-muslim-woman-mp-hits-back-at-immigration-poll-20160922-grm6w3.html">She asked</a> whether public opinion was really so adverse.</p>
<p>A second questioner was One Nation senator Pauline Hanson, <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/pauline-hanson-says-people-too-afraid-to-tell-of-muslim-immigration-fears-20160922-grmi8d.html">who said</a> the poll understated the degree of opposition:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I believe it’s a lot higher than that. Because people … have been in fear to answer the question … because they don’t know who’s taking the call.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Surveying methodology</h2>
<p>Some aspects of the Essential findings are worthy of critical scrutiny. One relates to methodology. </p>
<p>There are two main approaches to surveying. One is a sampling of the population based on randomly generated telephone numbers. The other utilises an online panel of respondents who complete surveys out of interest and for reward.</p>
<p>Contrary to Hanson’s claims, no-one was “taking the call” in the Essential survey: it utilised an online panel. </p>
<p>Surveys employing online panels are much cheaper and quicker to run. They have a proven record on a number of issues, notably predicting election outcomes, as over a period of years they develop weighting formulas for their panel calibrated against election results. But there are no formulas of the same level of precision when surveys deal with social issues. </p>
<p>An <a href="https://www.aapor.org/AAPOR_Main/media/MainSiteFiles/AAPOROnlinePanelsTFReportFinalRevised1.pdf">extensive review</a> of online survey methodologies found that:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Computer administration yields more reports of socially undesirable attitudes and behaviours than oral interviewing, but no evidence that directly demonstrates that the computer reports are more accurate.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Major organisations seeking the highest level of reliability continue to employ random population sampling, despite the cost involved.</p>
<p>To test the impact of different methodologies, in 2014 the Scanlon Foundation <a href="http://www.monash.edu/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/134711/mapping-social-cohesion-national-report-2014.pdf">administered the same questionnaire</a> to both a random sample of the population and an online panel. It found 44% of Australia-born online panel respondents whose parents were born in Australia indicated they held “very negative” or “negative” views toward Muslims. The same demographic in the random sample had a much lower percentage (28%).</p>
<p>There is a second issue, just as important, with the Essential finding. </p>
<p>Surveys do not simply identify a rock-solid public opinion; they explore, with the potential to distort through questions asked. Essential chose not to present respondents with a range of options on Muslim immigration. Rather, it was a yes/no choice: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Would you support or oppose a ban on Muslim immigration to Australia?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The product was easy-to-understand copy for the media, but arguably also a gross simplification. Public opinion on social issues defies binary categorisation. It is more accurately understood in terms of a continuum, with a middle ground on some issues in excess of half the population.</p>
<p>For example, <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/%7E/media/05%20About%20Parliament/54%20Parliamentary%20Depts/544%20Parliamentary%20Library/Pub_archive/Goot.pdf?la=en">with regard to asylum seekers</a>, nine polls between 2001 and 2010 using various methodologies asked respondents if they favoured or opposed the turning back of boats. The average for these surveys was 67% in favour of turnbacks.</p>
<p>But, in 2010, the Scanlon Foundation survey <a href="http://scanlonfoundation.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/mapping-social-cohesion-summary-report-2010.pdf">tested opinion on this topic</a> by offering four policy options, ranging from eligibility for permanent settlement to turning back of boats. In this context, a minority of just 27% supported turnbacks. </p>
<h2>Minorities and Australian opinion</h2>
<p>Survey findings are typically considered in isolation in the media, with no understanding of context, of what is within the expected and what is beyond it. </p>
<p>The Essential survey of attitudes to Muslims is hardly the first in the field. Several random population samples since 2010 have found that when respondents are asked for attitudes to minorities, by far the highest level of negative opinion is towards Muslims. </p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/%7E/media/ResourceCentre/PublicationsandResources/Discrimination/LEAD-community-attitudes-survey.pdf">2013 VicHealth survey</a>, 22% of respondents indicated they were negative towards Muslims. This number was 22%-26% in six <a href="http://scanlonfoundation.org.au/research/surveys/">Scanlon Foundation surveys</a> between 2010 and 2015. </p>
<p>A random population sample by <a href="http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/6507-australian-immigration-population-october-2015-201510200401">Roy Morgan Research</a> in October 2015 asked respondents if they “support or oppose Muslim immigration”. It found a minority, 36%, opposed; 55% in support. Of Greens-voting respondents in the Morgan poll, just 1% indicated they were opposed. This is a marked contrast with the Essential finding of 35%.</p>
<p>A last issue concerns broad context. If the Essential finding is a sound reflection of Australian opinion, is it beyond the realm of previous findings? We cannot be certain, because past surveys rarely raised the zero option – the banning of a specific group – without establishing the range of opinion.</p>
<p>Between 1984 and 1988, however, when there was considerable public discussion of Asian immigration, ten surveys <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Australian_Multiculturalism_for_a_New_Ce.html?id=vr1yAAAAMAAJ&redir_esc=y">asked</a> if the number of Asian immigrants was too high. On average the surveys found 58% were of that opinion, with a peak of 77% obtained by Newspoll in 1988. </p>
<p>And, in 1996 – at the time of Hanson’s <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/pauline-hansons-1996-maiden-speech-to-parliament-full-transcript-20160914-grgjv3.html">first maiden speech</a> in the federal parliament – an AGB McNair telephone poll found 53% of respondents agreed that Asian immigration “should be reduced”.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/65956/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Markus has received grants to research Australian public opinion from the Scanlon Foundation, the Australian Research Council and the Australian government.</span></em></p>Survey findings are typically considered in isolation in the media, with no understanding of context, of what is within and what is beyond the expected.Andrew Markus, Pratt Foundation Research Chair of Jewish Civilisation, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/642882016-08-23T20:20:05Z2016-08-23T20:20:05ZMigrants from Africa bear brunt of discrimination but remain positive, survey finds<p>The broad finding of the Scanlon Foundation’s <a href="http://www.scanlonfoundation.org.au/australians-today">latest survey</a> of Australian attitudes remains that Australia is seen as a good country for immigrants. New arrivals are optimistic, with just 6% indicating they are “strongly dissatisfied” or “dissatisfied”. But not all findings are positive.</p>
<p>Among Indigenous Australian respondents, most of whom live in major cities in Victoria and New South Wales, 59% reported experience of discrimination. It was still higher for some African groups: 60% for those born in Ethiopia, 67% for Kenyan-born, 75% for Zimbabwean-born and 77% for those born in South Sudan.</p>
<p>The latest survey is the largest exploration of attitudes to cultural diversity and of the immigrant experience that has been conducted in Australia. The Australia@2015 survey was open for six months from September 2015 and had more than 10,000 respondents. An additional 285 participated in 51 focus group discussions in four states.</p>
<p>The objective of reaching such a large number of respondents was to understand sub-groups of the population. Australia@2015 was available in English and 19 languages, with 1,521 (14%) questionnaires completed in a language other than English.</p>
<p>The survey explored a broad range of issues, including economic fortunes, life satisfaction, trust in institutions such as the police force and the Commonwealth parliament, and experience of discrimination.</p>
<p>Earlier surveys by the foundation found marked differences when respondents were asked if they had experienced discrimination on the basis of their ethnicity, skin colour or religion. </p>
<p>Analysis by country of birth found that the Australia-born report the lowest level of discrimination, in the range 10-15%, followed by overseas-born of English-speaking background. The highest levels, in the range 40-50%, were reported by overseas-born of non-English-speaking background.</p>
<h2>Positive attitude despite discrimination</h2>
<p>The broader range of respondents in the Australia@2015 survey identifies groups with higher levels of discrimination. South Sudanese were the largest African group represented in the 2015 survey, with 166 respondents. </p>
<p>Most South Sudanese are Christian and a relatively new immigrant group. The peak of arrivals was between 1996 and 2005 through the <a href="https://www.border.gov.au/about/corporate/information/fact-sheets/60refugee#b">humanitarian program</a>. Of South Sudanese survey respondents, 52% arrived between 2001 and 2005 and 31% between 2006 and 2010.</p>
<p>A large majority of South Sudanese, 76%, indicated they are satisfied with life in Australia, with 12% dissatisfied. A majority, 58%, also indicated that their experience of Australia is more positive than they had expected and 4% that it was more negative. A relatively high proportion, 30%, declined to answer.</p>
<p>Analysis of South Sudanese respondents by sub-group (gender, age, region of residence and faith) finds a large measure of consistency in the reporting of discrimination; for example, by 75% of men and 79% of women. For no other birthplace group with at least 50 respondents does experience of discrimination match these levels.</p>
<p>The six focus groups conducted with South Sudanese often discussed experience of discrimination. It seems differences of skin colour are a significant issue for many Australians, who have had little interaction with very dark-skinned people in the southern states.</p>
<h2>The hurts of daily racism</h2>
<p>Dark-skinned African immigrants are pioneers in a process of transition and adjustment in Australia. One participant observed:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>At the start … when they see a black person for the first time … I guess … people are surprised. And then once the community started building up it was a norm, so you didn’t get that much behaviour.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>A second person employed in the CBD commented:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>They see (a) dark-skinned guy working in such a job, such a profession, it’s a surprise, it’s different. If I was in America it’s a norm, but here it’s different – it’s like, ‘Oh, you people do these type of jobs?’</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another participant, when asked if he had ever felt unwelcome, responded:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I’ve never felt welcome … White Australians … the majority … hate us.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>People spoke of the lack of cultural awareness encountered, with little or no understanding that there are different African national and language groups: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Because not all of them know there’s different countries in Africa. Somebody’s like, ‘Oh, you’re from Africa, so you speak African.’</p>
</blockquote>
<p>For some, the experience of life in Australia becomes almost unbearable. A woman from a West African country, resettled from a refugee camp, recalled incidents on buses, including hostile behaviour of bus drivers, injury to her mother, abuse on the street, neighbours who threw rubbish into her property, and cars parked in her unit in such a way that it was difficult to open the front door.</p>
<p>Several participants spoke of their resignation: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>You just get mad but then we can’t do anything about it so we just, like, let it be, because it is what it is.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Others discussed life in Australia in similar terms.</p>
<p>Respondent: “Some parents when they experience racism they don’t want to do anything about it or say anything about it, because they think it’s normal.”</p>
<p>Respondent: “Yeah, they think it’s normal.”</p>
<p>Respondent: “I think they just adapt to it and they shouldn’t have to adapt to it, but they do.”</p>
<hr>
<p><em>You can read the full Australians Today report on the Scanlon Foundation’s Australia@2015 survey <a href="http://www.scanlonfoundation.org.au/australians-today">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/64288/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Markus receives funding from the Scanlon Foundation. The Au@2015 survey also received funding from the federal government. </span></em></p>While 60-77% of migrants of African origin and 59% of Indigenous Australians report experience of discrimination in the Scanlon Foundation survey of Australian attitudes, optimism endures.Andrew Markus, Pratt Foundation Research Chair of Jewish Civilisation, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/593662016-05-29T20:59:34Z2016-05-29T20:59:34ZAustralians care about political finance – and they want to see the system tightened<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/124060/original/image-20160526-17530-13ywndh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Political finance is an issue where there is a lot of agreement in Australia among people who vote for different parties.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Joel Carrett</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Money makes the world of politics go around and, as recent scandals afflicting both major political parties have shown, keeping it clean isn’t easy. Our <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/political-finance-in-australia">series on Australia’s system of political finance</a> examines its regulation, operation and possible reforms, starting today with an examination of public attitudes.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>Debates around <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/nsw-liberals-concealed-illegal-donors-before-2011-election-win-20160323-gnpsn6.html">breaches</a> – and reform – of Australia’s system of political finance are usually conducted by elected politicians or party officials, media pundits, or academic experts. </p>
<p>These are people who have easy access to the media, so we get to read or hear their views. So, we know fairly well what they think. We know much less about what ordinary Australians think about how their politics is financed. </p>
<p>Every time there’s a scandal, politicians from unaffected parties talk about the public’s outrage. But how much do people actually care?</p>
<p>In a <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10361146.2014.989810?#.V0V-o01f1i4">recently published study</a>, I investigated what ordinary Australians think and feel about the financing of politics. This research drew on a survey designed to be broadly representative of the national population. It provides the basis for answering some basic but important questions about public opinion on political finance. </p>
<h2>How much do people care?</h2>
<p>The survey asked:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>How much priority would you like to see your state and the federal government give to reforming political finance laws?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Just over a third of respondents (34%) thought reform should be a “high priority” for Australian governments. A further 52% considered it a “medium priority”. Only 14% said reforming political finance laws should be a “low priority”. </p>
<p>The survey also asked respondents to rate the current financing system. Is it “broken and needs to be replaced”? Does it have “some problems” that need to be repaired? Or, is it “alright the way it is”?</p>
<p>A small fraction (7%) of respondents were satisfied with the status quo. Most people (73%) were eager to see reform. About 20% thought a root-and-branch upheaval was needed. </p>
<p>Clearly, the public do care about political finance and they see flaws in the current system. But they don’t think there’s a crisis in political finance. Figuratively, a new car is not needed – just a competent mechanic. </p>
<h2>What reforms do people want?</h2>
<p>We can’t expect ordinary people to know the details of political finance laws. But if they are told some facts about current laws, they may have views about the direction reform should take.</p>
<p>With this approach in mind, the survey sought respondents’ views on several mooted reforms, after providing them with details about the federal laws in that area. The results are summarised below:</p>
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<p>Overall, it appears ordinary Australians support tighter regulation of political donations and spending. The vast majority are likely to oppose the idea that regulations should be <a href="https://theconversation.com/power-imbalance-why-we-dont-need-more-third-party-regulation-2304">loosened or removed</a>. </p>
<h2>How much does partisanship matter?</h2>
<p>We might expect that people’s attitudes on political finance issues will reflect their partisan preferences. </p>
<p>We might think, for instance, that a typical Liberal voter worries more about the effects of trade union donations than a typical Labor voter. We might expect Labor supporters to worry more about corporate donations than Liberal voters. And we might expect supporters of minor parties and independents to be most disillusioned with the system – and worried about both corporate and union donations.</p>
<p>To test this hypothesis, I analysed the statistical relationship between respondents’ party preference and their opinions about political financing. I found partisanship is only a weak predictor of respondents’ attitudes.</p>
<p>A better predictor of how ordinary people feel about such matters, including what kinds of reform they would like to see, is the strength of their scepticism about the current system. </p>
<p>Strong critics, irrespective of their preferred party, worry about corporate and union donations. They want radical reform. Weak critics are less worried about donations and, unsurprisingly, less eager for change. </p>
<p>My study shows political finance is an issue where there is a lot of agreement among people who vote for different parties. This is unusual for Australian politics, but such broad agreement on reform by politicians <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/the-crunch:-arthur-sinodinos-and-chris-bowen/7447480">seems unlikely</a> in a hyperpartisan enviroment.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Catch up on other articles in the series <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/political-finance-in-australia">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/59366/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Zim Nwokora has received funding from the Institute of Public Administration Australia and the Electoral Commission of NSW for academic research on political finance. </span></em></p>Every time there’s a scandal involving political finance, politicians from unaffected parties talk about the public’s outrage. But how much do people actually care?Zim Nwokora, Lecturer in Politics and Policy, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.