How do social security systems differ in their conceptions of socio-economic inequality? How can we assess and quantify these differences empirically? And can these institutional differences explain – at least partly, why societies and social groups within society differ systematically in their perception and justification of economic inequality? This project proposes a long-term research effort with the aim of answering these research questions.
By advancing our understanding of the different manifestations of social disparities in social security systems, and by analysing the impact of public institutions on social perception and preference formation, the project has important implications for scientists and non-scientists alike: (1) The project will add to institutional scholarship. By conceptualizing and systematizing legal information on the ‘institutional imprints of social disparities’ in the different fields of social protection, this project represents a pioneering advance in welfare state research. The quantification of legal information will open new pathways for comparative research on social policy and will provide novel instruments that can be used by scholars to explain the origins and consequences of different policy designs. (2) Understanding how institutional structures interact with principles of human cognition will produce new knowledge of the contextual ‘conditions’ in which inequality perceptions and justification processes arise and potentially provoke emotional and behavioural responses. Going beyond current research on inequality perceptions across various disciplines, PERGAP will develop a theoretical framework for the study of the institutional determinants of the perception and justification of inequality. This will allow us to make predictions about the self-legitimizing mechanisms of public institutions, political behaviour and the stability of political systems. This is particularly important in a time of profound insecurity, including threats posed by rising populism, democratic instability, and a global pandemic. (3) By comparing perceptions and justifications of inequalities over time and across a wide range of countries, PERGAP will generate new knowledge on the consequences of economic inequality and its institutional manifestations. This may raise the awareness for the public protection of social risks and the reduction of economic inequalities, and the need for solidarity, thus opening an arena for political and societal discourse on the ‘public good’ and societal welfare.
