Abstract This book is the fourth in the ‘Beliefs in government’ series, and focuses on phenomena indicative of widespread change in the value orientations of citizens in Western Europe during the past two decades. These include a decline in religious belief, waning class values, and rising post‐materialism – along with environmentalism, feminism, and post‐modernism. The extent of these changes, and their impact on the conduct of politics, are the dual concerns of this book. Its first few chapters present a simple model of the relationship between value orientations and political participation, and follow up with an account of how value orientations can be established empirically. Subsequent chapters draw on extensive data from across Europe, in order to track changes in three key types of value orientation – religious/secular, left/right materialism, and materialism/post‐materialism – and additionally discusses the emergence of the value orientations relating to feminism, post‐modernism, and environmentalism. The third part of the book examines the impact of the three key types on political effectiveness, political trust, interest in politics, voting behaviour, and involvement in new social movements. It concludes with an assessment of the implications of changing value orientations for the governability of advanced industrial societies.
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