The societal quality of southern European Mediterranean countries

  1. Bericat, Eduardo 1
  2. Martín-Gimeno, Rubén 2
  1. 1 Department of Sociology, Universidad de Sevilla, Spain
  2. 2 Department of Sociology, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Spain
Journal:
RES. Revista Española de Sociología

ISSN: 2445-0367,  1578-2824

Year of publication: 2020

Issue Title: Southern European Societies

Volume: 29

Issue: 1

Pages: 49-69

Type: Article

DOI: 10.22325/FES/RES.2020.04 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openDialnet editor

More publications in: RES. Revista Española de Sociología

Abstract

On the basis of extensive empirical data that the 72 focused composite indicators, making up the System of Indices on the Quality of European Societies (SIQES), provide on the 28 EU Member States, this paper analyses the societal quality of the Southern European Mediterranean countries, namely, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece, from a holistic, multidimensional and comparative perspective. First and foremost, it indicates the position of these Mediterranean countries in the European societal quality rankings. Secondly, after confirming that, in accordance with the Five Europes Typology, the Mediterranean countries form a distinctive cluster, it includes an analysis of their social characteristics, comparing them with those of the other four clusters. Thirdly, on the basis of the 14 societal quality domains included in the system, it offers a diagnosis by contrasting the societal quality of the Southern European Mediterranean countries with that of the rest of the EU Member States. This structural diagnosis, endogenous as well exogenous, offers a panoramic view of great importance to both social researchers and policymakers.

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Funding information

The SIQES is the result of a study performed by a large research team, led by Eduardo Bericat and financed by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. CSO2012-35032: “Social quality in Europe. Design and development of composite indexes for the measurement and monitoring of the quality of European societies”.

Funders

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