Reviews

The Spirit of Solzhenitsyn by Olivier Clément, Search Press, 1976, 234 pp., £5.95.

Protestants in Russia by J. A. Hebly, Christian Journals Ltd., 1976, 192 pp., £1.50.

USSR ‐ Democratic Alternatives

(A collection of Essays & Documents) edited by Vadim Belotserkovsky, Achberger Verlaganstalt, 1976, 335 pp. No price.     

The structure of values: Conceptions of the desirable

The study aim was to define currently discernible conceptions of the desirable. An inventory of personal value statements was constructed, administered to two large samples, and factor analyzed. Twelve first order and four higher-level dimensions were identified in both samples. An hypothesis that liberal-conservative attitudes were predictable to a high degree from the authoritarian value orientation was tested and confirmed. Each of the four higher level dimensions was interpretable as a specific ethic or organized set of rules that guide conduct. The four ethics or value dimensions were labeled Acceptance of Authority, Work Ethic, Humanistic Orientation, and Hedonistic Orientation.     

Leave or remain? European identification,legitimacy of European integration,and political attitudes towards the EU

In this paper, we look at the relationship between European identification and political support for (or opposition to) EU membership. First, we argue that conceptualizing political attitudes towards the EU as a direct product of European identification (a) neglects the distinction between the social reality of Europe and the political reality of the EU and (b) leads to psychological reductionism. We propose that the relationship should instead be conceptualized as mediated by legitimacy perceptions and as moderated by social‐level variables. Second, we look at three spheres of European integration and propose that their perceived legitimacy is appraised through the following principles: (a) normative solidarity for wealth sharing, (b) political authority for sharing political decisions, and (c) collective self‐realization for the sharing of practices. We illustrate the key mediating role of those principles by drawing on data from a survey ran across five European countries. Third, we argue that these meditational relationships are in turn moderated by social, political, and ideological realities and illustrate this point by looking at the case of United Kingdom in the context of the EU membership referendum. We point to an ideological assumption in the U.K. political landscape about the illegitimacy of EU supranational decision making and argue that this contributed to shape both the debate of the referendum campaign and its result.