Teaching Comparative

Achievement of happiness through politics

Post-materialism is based on the idea that as Maslow proposed, people have a hierarchy of needs. As lower needs (like survival and social needs) are fulfilled, people pursue the satisfaction of higher needs like belonging and self-actualization. If enough people in a society achieve the satisfaction of basic needs, the whole society will pursue post-materialist goals more directly.

Steve Fisher at Oxford University and many others have written about the connection between post-materialism and the formation of parties like the Green Parties.

But the whole idea may be getting a new label from researchers and political momentum from established political party leaders. According to the Christian Science Monitor article from 17 January, Tony Blair and opposition leader David Cameron in the UK are proponents of making people happier.

What can your students find out about post-materialist politics in other countries?

New quest in British politics: public happiness

"Once upon a time, the hot-button issue for politicians in rich countries was 'the economy, stupid.'

"But after decades in which Western nations have gotten richer but not necessarily happier, a new performance indicator – harder to measure and more elusive to deliver – is beginning to emerge.

"Some simply call it happiness. The more scientific term is subjective well-being (SWB), a composite of factors including income, health, environment, relationships with friends and family, education, recreation, and faith.

"Economists on both sides of the Atlantic believe they are getting good at measuring it, and now the political class in Britain is beginning to take it seriously.

"'There has been no upward trend in happiness despite the fact that we are richer, healthier, and have longer holidays.' says Lord Richard Layard, an economist and advisor to the British government on happiness...

"A poll last year found the proportion of people saying they are 'very happy' had fallen to 36 percent today from 52 percent in 1957. Four in five people said government's prime objective should be the 'greatest happiness' not the 'greatest wealth.'

"For David Cameron, leader of the Conservative opposition, improving society's sense of well-being is the central political challenge of the era...

"Tony Blair meanwhile has set up a government team, sometimes dubbed the "Department of Happiness" to study how to make people happier...

"The notion of politicians trying to make private individuals happy is not new. The 19th-century philosopher Jeremy Bentham argued that the aim of government should be to bring as much happiness to as many people as possible. Even the US Declaration of Independence in 1776 points out the inalienable rights of man including 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.'...

"Philosophers are less sure that happiness should be the preserve of government. Some argue that much of the malaise in Western society is due to higher expectations (we demand more of ourselves), peer pressure (others have raised the bar of success), and the need for recognition as well as wealth: All factors mostly beyond the reach of mere politicians..."

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Another set of rankings:
Happiness rankings

The  net happiness statistic for this 50-country survey* was measuredby the percentage of people who rated themselves as 'quite' or 'very' happy, minus the percentage of people who rated themselves as 'not very' or 'not at all' happy.

1. Iceland 94%
10. United Kingdom 87%
13. United States 84%
29. China 49%
31. Mexico 48%
46.Russia 2%

(Iran and Nigeria were not included in the poll.)

posted by Ken Wedding @ 5:01 PM