European Values and their Degree of Political Polarization

Based on the analysis of the European Values Studies (from 1990 to 2008), this article first shows that the values are rarely consensual. In many areas, they are still remaining rather contrasted but not extremely polarized, what the distribution of the individuals on the left right scale, studied for the whole of the European Union and for each country, already indicates. The paper then shows that main traditional political conflicts – identified by Rokkan – are today quite weakened. New conflicts and more generally the main themes of public debate do not appear to give rise to a strong polarization of values between rightist and leftist people.