MAPPING IDEOLOGICAL PREFERENCES FOR WELFARE POLICY IN NORTH MACEDONIA: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF POLITICAL PARTIES AND INTEREST GROUPS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46763/Abstract
This study examines the ideological orientations and welfare policy preferences of political parties and interest groups in North Macedonia. Drawing on quantitative data from 360 respondents representing party members and civil society actors, the research explores how ideological values shape perceptions of the welfare state across multiple policy domains. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses (t-tests, ANOVA, and Chi-square tests) were applied to examine differences across political affiliation, gender, organizational type, and key social policy areas, including education, health care, social protection, employment, and pensions. The findings indicate that ideological distinctions along the traditional left-right spectrum are relatively blurred. Although political parties formally identify with different ideological positions, respondents’ perceptions tend to cluster around moderate-left and social-democratic welfare orientations. Differences between political parties and interest groups emerge in several policy domains, with interest groups expressing stronger support for universalist welfare principles in education, social protection, employment, and pensions, while broad consensus is observed in health care policy. Overall, the results suggest that welfare attitudes in North Macedonia are shaped less by partisan ideological divides and more by shared socio-economic realities and institutional legacies inherited from the post-socialist transformation.
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