Support for Economic and Social Policy. More Politics than Economic Policy?

The aim of the paper is the analysis of the determinants for support of economic and social policy in Austria. Emphasis was placed on the role of the determinants self-interest, ideology and knowledge. Especially the consideration and analysis of the role of knowledge is the main novelty of this study. On the basis of a representative survey of the Austrian population the results of the study clearly indicate that self-interest is the main driving force for support. Dependent on individual levels of knowledge the relevance of self-interest is expressed by subjective utility or by political ideologies. Persons with a high level of knowledge base their decision predominantly on the expected utility while persons with a lower level of knowledge base their decision predominantly upon ideological positions.