The societal quality of southern European Mediterranean countries

49 RES n.º 29 (1) (2020) pp. 49-69. ISSN: 1578-2824 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. Keywords: social quality; quality of life; Mediterranean countries; Europe; composite indicators. RESUMEN En base a la amplia información empírica que sobre los 28 países de la UE aportan los 72 indicadores compuestos focalizados que componen el Sistema de Índices de Calidad de las Sociedades Europeas, este artículo analiza la calidad societal de los países mediterráneos del sur de Europa, Portugal, España, Italia y Grecia, desde un perspectiva holista, multidimensional y comparada. Primero, se ofrece el posicionamiento de los países mediterráneos en los rankings europeos de calidad societal. Segundo, tras comprobar que, de acuerdo con la Tipología de las Cinco Europas, los países mediterráneos forman un cluster propio, se analizan sus características societales. Tercero, en base a los 14 dominios de calidad societal que incluye el sistema de índices, se ofrece un diagnóstico comparando la calidad de los países mediterráneos con la del resto de países europeos. Este diagnóstico estructural, tanto endógeno como exógeno, ofrece una panorámica de gran interés tanto para los investigadores sociales como para los responsables políticos. Palabras clave: igualdad social; calidad de vida; países mediterráneos; Europa; indicadores compuestos. Artículos / Articles The societal quality of southern European Mediterranean countries / La calidad societal de los países mediterráneos del sur de Europa Eduardo Bericat Department of Sociology, Universidad de Sevilla, Spain / España [email protected] Rubén Martín-Gimeno Department of Sociology, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Spain / España [email protected] Recibido / Received: 04/06/2018 Aceptado / Accepted: 16/08/2019 *Autor para correspondencia / Corresponding author: Eduardo Bericat. [email protected]. Sugerencia de cita / Suggested citation: Bericat, E., Martín-Gimeno, R. (2020). The societal quality of southern European Mediterranean countries. Revista Española de Sociología, 29 (1), 49-69. (Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.22325/fes/res.2020.04) Revista Española de Sociología (RES) 2020 © Federación Española de Sociología doi:10.22325/fes/res.2020.04 RES n.º 29 (1) (2020) pp. 49-69. ISSN: 1578-2824 The societal quality of southern European Mediterranean countries 50 INTRODUCTION The aim of this work is to analyse the societal quality of Southern European Mediterranean countries from a holistic, multidimensional and comparative perspective. A society can hardly be understood as a mere aggregation or juxtaposition of unconnected and independent elements. Rather, it is composed of frameworks of structured and structuring relationships. Societies are units that integrate, to greater or lesser extent, a series of factors, processes and institutions in a characteristic societal configuration. Thus, it is impossible to gain an understanding of any social phenomena, any problem affecting a society and the real impact of any policy implemented in it, without a minimum knowledge of its global configuration. In this sense, the societal quality of a country, viz. the combination of its social quality and the quality of life of its citizens, has to be studied as a structure of connected but independent areas and domains that, together, determine to what extent citizens live a good life in a good society. Specifically, this paper aims to provide descriptive and empirical answers, with estimates based on a very large dataset, to two basic but fundamental questions for pondering on the social characterisation of any country: what level of societal quality have the Southern European Mediterranean countries attained? And what is the quality level of the domains making up their social structure? We are fully aware that a mere descriptive knowledge of reality does not entail its full explanation or comprehension. But we are also convinced that without sufficiently valid, reliable and robust empirical data, theoretical thinking can go astray, devising hypotheses and ideas far-removed from reality. In this sense, the intention of this study is to provide social researchers, policymakers and all those with an interest in getting to know the social reality of these countries, with an information matrix that helps them to reflect carefully on how to improve both the social quality of Mediterranean societies and the quality of life of their citizens. The analysis performed here is based on data retrieved from the System of Indices on the Quality of European Societies (SIQES) (Bericat and Jiménez-Rodrigo, 2019), comprising 72 composite indicators created by different institutions and social researchers. Each one of these indices measures the societal quality of the EU Member States in many different domains, such as child well-being, environment, gender inequality and democracy and governance. Specifically, the analysis employs the synthetic information provided by both the Societal Quality Index (SQI) and the Five Europes Typology created by Bericat (2019). Firstly, on the strength of the SQI estimates we will be able to identify the societal quality of the Southern European Mediterranean countries, in addition to the divides between them and the rest of the EU Member States. Secondly, in view of the multidimensional grouping that the Five Europes Typology offers, and after verifying that the Southern European Mediterranean countries form a distinctive group within the European Union (EU), it is possible to determine their characteristic social traits. In this sense, even though it is true that the classic typology of the three welfare regimes developed by G. Esping-Andersen (1990, 1999) did not initially include the “Mediterranean type”, subsequent analyses (Ferrera, 1998; Boeri, 2002) have revealed many similarities between these countries (Bericat, 2019). Both an analysis of the societal quality of the Southern European Mediterranean countries and an analytical assessment of the homogeneity or heterogeneity of their multidimensional domain structures have been performed by applying two complementary comparative frameworks, namely, external or exogenous and internal or endogenous. The former is obtained by comparing societal quality levels in Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece with EU averages, while the latter is established by comparing the quality levels of each one of their domains with respect to their own SQIs. This analysis of the differences between exogenous and endogenous quality levels (deficits and surpluses) enables us to offer a diagnosis of overall and individual societal quality levels in the Southern European Mediterranean countries. It is evident that deep-seated structural, historical, economic, political and cultural frameworks underlie the realities revealed in the diagnosis of these countries that, as could not be otherwise, have their strengths and weaknesses. Their peripheral and marginal position in global power structures, the The societal quality of southern European Mediterranean countries 51 RES n.º 29 (1) (2020) pp. 49-69. ISSN: 1578-2824 time-honoured delay in their processes of economic modernisation and social development, their patterns of inequality and associated elitism and cronyism, and the Mediterranean culture itself, which is no longer hegemonic in relation to the models defining it, among others, are deep-seated structural problems. In sum, the main strengths and weaknesses of these countries can be determined with sufficient clarity and rigour using this holistic, multidimensional and comparative approach. This will doubtless contribute to the design of more efficient policies both for addressing their weaknesses and resolving key social problems and for leveraging their main strengths and endogenous resources as a means of further enhancing their societal quality. ThE SOCIETAl QUAlITy INDEx Of ThE EU MEMBER STATES In order to lay the groundwork for the analysis, what follows are the results of a multidimensional index, designed by Bericat (2019), which will serve to gain a comprehensive and synthetic picture of societal quality levels in the EU Member States. The SQI is based on a vast quantity of data gathered by the SIQES1, a system composed of a wide range of indices developed by different researchers and/or social institutions for the purpose of measuring different aspects of societal quality and quality of life in order to compare and monitor them over time. The system is divided into 14 different societal quality domains (see Table 1). Each one of its composite indicators is formed by between two and six dimensions which, in turn, contain between two and six simple indicators. The system provides estimates for the 28 EU Member States in 72 indices and in over 280 dimensions. The 72 focused composite indicators were selected by the members of the research team responsible 1 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”. for creating the SIQES by applying strict methodological quality criteria (Bericat and Jiménez-Ro- drigo, 2019). The design and creation of the SIQES were inspired by the theoretical frameworks of two previous indicator systems. Firstly, it is based on the framework created by Heintz-Herbert Noll and his fellow researchers (Berger-Schmitt and Noll, 2000; Noll, 2002) to construct a pioneering system, that is, the European System of Social Indicators (ESSI), based on 14 vital domains and three major social challenges, i. e. quality of life, social cohesion and sustainable development. Secondly, it is grounded in the concept of social quality developed by Abbott and Wallace (2012) and van der Maesen and Walker (2005), based, in turn, on four strategic goals: social empowerment, social inclusion, socioeconomic security and social cohesion (Bericat, Camarero and Jiménez-Rodrigo, 2019). Due to space limitations, it is impossible to offer a detailed description of the SIQES, the selection of composite indicators, the theoretical framework on which it is based, the design of the SQI or the Five Europes Typology. Those interested can find this information, together with the design, construction, rankings and scores offered by each one of the 72 indices in the book entitled, The Quality of European Societies. A Compilation of Composite Indicators (Bericat and Jiménez-Rodrigo, 2019). The calculation of the SQI was based, first and foremost, on a transformation of the original scores for the composite indicators and, secondly, on an aggregation of the transformed scores. First of all, the scores of each index were normalised by applying the min-max transformation. The EU Member State with the highest quality level (max.) was assigned a value 100 and that with the lowest (min.), a value of 0. With these two references, the percentile rank —which defines the position of the rest of the countries on a scale from 0 to 100— was obtained. The societal quality of a country is higher the closer it is to 100 and lower the closer it is to 0. After calculating the percentile rank of each one of the 58 indices finally used to calculate the SQI, initially the arithmetic mean of all the indices forming part of each one of the system’s 14 domains was estimated, thus obtaining the quality index of each domain. In a second phase, for RES n.º 29 (1) (2020) pp. 49-69. ISSN: 1578-2824 The societal quality of southern European Mediterranean countries 52 calculating the general SQI the arithmetic mean of the quality indices of 13 domains was estimated2 (Bericat, 2019). The data provided by the SQI are highly relevant, for they show the position of the Southern European Mediterranean countries in the societal quality ranking with sufficient clarity and accuracy (Figure 1). Three important conclusions can be drawn from the data contained in this graph: firstly, that the societal quality of all the Mediterranean countries is lower than the EU average; secondly, that it is heterogeneous, insofar as they occupy different positions in the bottom half of the ranking of EU Member States with lower societal quality levels; and, lastly, that both their societal quality and quality of life are still far-removed from those of continental Europe and, above all, the Nordic states, thus leaving room for substantial improvement. In short, in the EU there is still a marked imbalance as regards societal quality, which seriously compromises social cohesion. 2 To calculate the general SQI, the “environment” domain was excluded due to the fact that it correlates negatively with the rest, for the greater the development of a country, the greater its environmental deterioration. However, environmental sustainability, a key societal quality domain, was included in the rest of the analyses. In Figure 1, which includes the score obtained by each country in the SQI, it can be observed that the arithmetic mean of quality levels in all the EU Member States, weighted according to their respective populations, is 52.9. This signifies, as already noted, that the societal quality of the Southern European Mediterranean countries is clearly lower than the EU average. Spain, with a percentile rank of 49.7, is the country with the highest level, followed by Portugal (42.9), Cyprus (42.7), Italy (41.6), Malta (39.3) and Greece (27.4). Accordingly, in the context of the EU it can be claimed that the Mediterranean countries, except for Greece, have intermediate societal quality levels, with percentile ranks ranging from 40 to 50 in the SQI. These data paint a new picture that contrasts with the cliché that the Mediterranean countries are bringing up the rear of the EU, which is plainly incorrect. However, the data confirm that their societal quality levels cannot, under no circumstances, be equated with those of the continental European countries, although the distance separating them is not insurmountable and future processes of approximation may lead to the much sought-after convergence. Finally, there are notable differences between the Mediterranean countries and the Central and Eastern Europe states (CEECs) in terms of societal quality, in favour of the former. figure 1. Ranking of the EU Member States according to their societal quality levels. Societal Quality Index (SQI). Percentile ranks (0-100). 84.3 82.3 79.2 78.7 66.9 66.5 65.8 63.5 62.3 60.8 58.4 51.6 49.7 45.4 42.9 42.7 42.2 41.6 39.3 37.9 34.3 31.1 28.8 28.7 27.4 26.6 17.7 15.4 52.9 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 Sweden Denmark Holland Finland Austria Germany Luxemburg Belgium United Kingdom Ireland France Slovenia Spain Czech Republic Portugal Cyprus Estonia Italy Malta Poland Slovakia Lithuania Hungary Latvia Greece Croatia Bulgaria Rumania Societal Quality Index (SQI) Societal Quality Index (SQI) (weighted mean) Source: own elaboration. The societal quality of southern European Mediterranean countries 53 RES n.º 29 (1) (2020) pp. 49-69. ISSN: 1578-2824 A question frequently posed by analysts is whether the Southern European Mediterranean societies form a group of countries with common structural features. Without anticipating the analysis described in the following section, Figure 1 shows three different levels of societal quality, thus making it impossible to confirm that they form a totally consistent group. Spain would occupy the first level; Portugal, Cyprus, Italy and Malta, a fairly homogeneous second level; and Greece, the third. The difference between the SQIs of Spain and Italy is 8.1, and between those of Italy and Greece, 14.2. Thus, there is a considerable disparity between societal quality levels in Spain and Greece, equivalent to 22.3 points on the SQI scale. Nonetheless, since the Greek case is apparently an exception, it should be analysed in further detail. Perhaps its eastern location brings it closer to the Eastern European countries or maybe its unsuccessful process of modernisation (Bericat and Camarero, 2017), together with its recent economic crisis, intensified by the austerity policies and the financial adjustments implemented by the EU, have prevented it from converging at the same pace as the rest of the Mediterranean countries. The position of Italy, a country that, notwithstanding its high level of economic development, has moderate societal quality levels, is as remarkable as it is peculiar. The room for improvement of even the Mediterranean country occupying the highest position in the ranking is considerable. The difference between Spain and Sweden, the country with the highest societal quality levels in the EU, is 34.6 points, i. e. a third of the scale. In the case of Italy, this increases to 42.7 and in that of Greece, to 56.9. Subsequently, it is urgent for the Southern European Mediterranean countries to design and implement adequate societal development strategies aimed at their convergence with those European countries with the highest societal quality levels. Even so, these strategies should be adapted to the nature of their societies, to their baseline societal situations and to their aspirations and social resolve. In this respect, it is important to take into account that there is a cultural trend—even reflected in the statistics currently available—to design quality indicators better adapted to the societal performance of the Nordic and continental countries. The Nordic states, as was the case with the Mediterranean countries in other historical periods, currently constitute a paradigm and utopian goal with regard to societal quality. However, just as any light casts a shadow, so too any utopia has its grey areas. Finally, Table 1 shows the societal quality indices of the 28 EU Member States in each one of the 14 domains of the SIQES, as well as their general SQIs. The data contained in this table enables us to conduct a detailed study on the societal quality of the Southern European Mediterranean countries, discovering, by comparison, both the peculiarities of each country and those of the cluster as a whole. The analysis and interpretation of these data are complex tasks, for which reason in the following three sections we will implement a number of strategies that will allow us to gain a better understanding of both the general framework and the precise picture. ThE TypOlOGy Of ThE fIvE EUROpE AND ThE MEDITERRANEAN ClUSTER When characterising the Southern European Mediterranean countries, first and foremost it is essential to know whether, in terms of their societal quality levels and distribution, they form part of a cluster that is relatively homogeneous and distinguishable from others in the EU. The Five Europes Typology offers an answer to this question. With the aim of determining whether the EU Member States can be grouped in terms not only of their general SQIs, but also of the quality levels of all their domains, a hierarchical clustering analysis was performed on the data matrix shown in Table 1. After identifying all the different possible solutions, it was considered that the most socially and politically relevant model, as well as the most optimal in terms of scientific parsimony and precision, was that which classified all the EU Member States in five clusters (Bericat, 2019). The construction of this typology, unlike others such as the classic typology developed by Esping-Andersen to classify welfare regimes, was not essentially inspired by the inference of types on the basis of a preselected theoretical framework. RES n.º 29 (1) (2020) pp. 49-69. ISSN: 1578-2824 The societal quality of southern European Mediterranean countries 54 Table 1. The societal quality of the EU Member States. General SQI* and domain quality levels**. Country ClUSTER RANKING ICS Quality of life Subjective wellbeing Social participation Culture and innovation Democracy and governance Consumption Quality of work Social equality Gender equality Child wellbeing Wellbeing of the elderly health conditions Crime and safety Environment Sweden 1 1 84.3 97.4 77.7 87.5 79.1 92.0 68.1 66.6 98.0 89.2 81.5 100.0 75.4 83.2 72.2 Denmark 1 2 82.3 93.1 100.0 83.0 78.4 96.6 73.0 86.5 88.7 73.1 70.3 84.2 60.4 82.1 52.9 Holland 1 3 79.2 83.1 71.7 72.3 82.7 85.7 63.2 69.9 94.2 70.3 99.5 87.9 72.6 76.5 27.0 Finland 1 4 78.7 88.2 82.3 47.1 79.5 91.5 80.1 62.3 92.6 87.3 77.1 75.5 72.1 87.9 73.6 Austria 2 5 66.9 77.1 75.3 32.1 58.6 86.1 74.9 51.6 91.3 41.2 62.7 66.5 70.9 81.8 58.3 Germany 2 6 66.5 75.4 62.9 40.9 56.7 76.4 80.8 39.9 84.5 61.4 70.7 79.2 65.4 70.9 51.7 Luxemburg 2 7 65.8 70.6 74.8 46.2 45.4 79.7 88.6 66.2 91.3 35.0 64.5 65.1 69.2 59.3 46.5 Belgium 2 8 63.5 70.6 61.9 37.2 54.0 69.7 66.8 50.7 77.7 66.9 60.2 54.6 79.4 75.2 18.8 United Kingdom 2 9 62.3 65.5 55.5 28.8 78.8 68.6 71.3 63.2 72.7 49.6 48.0 83.5 59.2 65.7 49.6 Ireland 2 10 60.8 71.8 69.1 39.7 66.5 60.9 55.1 50.3 48.9 51.2 65.6 73.9 65.2 72.3 54.4 France 2 11 58.4 65.9 50.8 32.3 66.5 51.6 65.9 41.9 83.9 58.0 54.0 67.0 72.4 49.6 40.8 Slovenia 3 12 51.6 54.9 45.9 30.2 44.3 48.2 50.8 41.2 83.6 56.5 69.9 43.3 44.3 57.6 56.5 Spain 3 13 49.7 53.8 59.5 26.2 50.3 42.7 38.0 37.9 58.7 46.2 60.3 50.5 62.8 59.8 47.9 Czech Republic 3 14 45.4 51.5 44.1 10.6 35.0 42.1 40.9 30.1 91.2 25.9 49.8 58.3 56.2 53.9 58.1 Portugal 3 15 42.9 37.3 39.1 27.3 27.7 47.9 41.9 33.4 51.5 43.7 43.8 43.7 57.9 62.6 61.1 Estonia 3 16 42.2 41.4 27.8 13.8 56.4 47.3 35.6 41.5 70.0 38.0 44.9 57.6 36.7 38.0 57.8 Cyprus 3 17 42.7 38.0 53.2 20.3 12.5 48.4 53.5 41.4 61.8 16.9 76.8 50.5 48.8 32.3 57.5 Italy 3 18 41.6 48.8 48.0 30.1 37.9 27.4 45.3 32.5 59.2 24.0 39.8 45.3 65.3 36.7 46.2 Malta 3 19 39.3 32.0 48.7 30.2 24.2 45.9 49.7 42.7 58.4 10.8 44.7 36.2 74.9 12.2 29.6 Poland 4 20 37.9 39.1 41.2 14.2 28.6 36.3 30.1 35.6 65.2 36.4 36.7 36.6 32.0 60.7 45.1 Slovakia 4 21 34.3 39.6 32.1 19.8 21.7 36.6 40.1 31.1 72.9 19.2 41.7 17.6 32.7 41.0 72.8 Lithuania 4 22 31.1 36.4 31.7 5.7 26.3 35.4 38.7 34.8 45.5 41.1 22.6 29.6 31.6 25.0 61.0 Hungary 4 23 28.8 32.6 17.5 3.6 24.9 29.2 27.6 29.4 47.7 26.6 39.8 31.6 31.2 32.4 53.2 Latvia 4 24 28.7 23.2 18.3 4.8 32.2 34.1 35.8 44.1 26.0 50.2 22.7 41.6 15.7 24.9 76.3 Greece 4 25 27.4 31.2 19.4 24.5 20.7 13.5 38.9 21.0 38.6 18.3 38.6 12.4 61.5 17.6 50.3 Croatia 4 26 26.6 19.9 47.0 33.2 16.2 16.7 8.4 28.8 48.8 12.0 19.9 30.6 37.8 26.6 52.3 Bulgaria 5 27 17.7 8.5 12.1 12.0 8.9 3.5 6.9 28.3 3.2 50.4 15.5 32.6 33.5 15.2 52.2 Rumania 5 28 15.4 7.6 29.6 11.5 8.8 3.0 12.8 24.0 12.1 19.1 6.5 33.1 6.3 26.4 47.1 Total unweighted 49 51.9 49.9 30.9 43.7 50.6 49.4 43.8 64.9 43.5 51.0 53.2 53.3 51.0 52.5 Total weighted 52.9 57.8 52.5 31.6 51.7 52.2 55.2 42.7 69.4 47.0 52.5 60.6 58.7 56.4 48.3 Source: own elaboration. * Arithmetic mean of the percentile ranks of the first 13 domains. ** Arithmetic mean of the percentile ranks of the composite indicators included in each domain. The societal quality of southern European Mediterranean countries 55 RES n.º 29 (1) (2020) pp. 49-69. ISSN: 1578-2824 Rather, the Five Europes Typology is the result of an inductive process employing a vast quantity of empirical data on the 28 EU Member States3 pertaining to the concept of societal quality. Also, unlike Esping-Andersen’s typology and those of other authors, mainly based on relevant but specific features of the social structure, the Five Europes Typology is of a multidimensional and comprehensive nature, for it classifies the countries in terms of a broad set of domains, indices, dimension and indicators. Finally, it should be stressed that the classification provided by this typology is consistent with many other scientific efforts to gain insights into the diversity of social, cultural, economic or political structures in Europe. From these endeavours a key idea has emerged that the EU is far from being a socially homogeneous political unit. This obliges us to bear in mind its basic social diversity when designing or implementing any EU policy. This basic diversity should also be taken into consideration in any study of European social reality. According to the Five Europes Typology, whose geographical distribution is shown in Map 1, it is obvious that the Southern European Mediterranean countries do indeed form part of a specific cluster. Cluster 3 differs from Cluster 1, comprising the Nordic countries (Sweden, Finland and Denmark) and Holland; from Cluster 2, formed by the European continental countries (Austria, Germany, Belgium, Luxemburg and France) and the western islands (United Kingdom and Ireland); from Cluster 4, comprising the Central and Eastern European countries (Poland, Slovakia, Lithuania, Hungary, Latvia and Croatia) and Greece; and from Cluster 5, made up of Bulgaria and Rumania. In short, apart from Greece, the rest of the Southern European Mediterranean countries (Spain, Italy, Portugal, Malta and Cyprus) do form part of the same group. Cluster 3 is a hybrid group that, in addition to the Mediterranean countries, also includes three CEECs, namely, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Estonia. Although this is not the place to offer an explanation for this mixed group, two fundamental facts should indeed be noted. First of all, that they have the wherewithal to reach similar societal 3 Since the Brexit negotiations are still dragging on, the United Kingdom is still considered part of the EU. quality levels departing from different social, cultural, political or economic realities, as is the case with Slovenia (SQI = 51.6) and Spain (SQI = 49.7). Secondly, that the traditions or idiosyncrasies of each country, in accordance with path dependence theories (Sewell, 1990; Mahoney, 2000), establish prior constraints, but never completely determine its future. It is evident that the clusters shown in the map correspond to groups of countries that have sustained, for decades or even centuries, very different levels of growth, cultures, geopolitical power and social structures. There is no evidence, therefore, of full, across-the-board convergence. But it is also true that each country, among those included in the same cluster, has advanced at its own pace, attaining different societal quality levels. According to the Five Europes Typology, the Mediterranean countries do indeed form part of the same cluster within the EU. This begs the question of whether, as a group, they share some distinctive social features. In order to answer this question, let us take a look at the data contained in Table 2, which includes the average quality indices for all the clusters, as regards both their overall quality (SQI) and that of their domains. To this end, the arithmetic means of the countries forming part of each cluster, weighted by their respective populations in 2016, were calculated. The row “Total” shows the societal quality of the EU (weighted mean). Given that the “Mediterranean” countries (except for Greece) form a hybrid cluster and that Malta and Cyprus both have relatively small populations, it was decided to create a new group with the four major Mediterranean countries: Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece (4MC). In order to study the distinctives features of the 4MC, two different comparative frameworks have been used: exogenous and endogenous. The former analyses the differences between domain quality levels registered in the 4MC and the respective EU averages (Total), while the latter analyses the differences between the quality of each one of the domains of the 4MC and their overall SQIs. The exogenous and endogenous differences included in the last two rows of Table 2 can be positive or negative, indicating quality deficits or surpluses. When characterising the 4MC, it is also important to con- RES n.º 29 (1) (2020) pp. 49-69. ISSN: 1578-2824 The societal quality of southern European Mediterranean countries 56 sider whether the exogenous differences are higher or lower than the mean exogenous difference. From the analysis of these data the following conclusions can be drawn. The societal structure of the 4MC reveals exogenous and endogenous deficits in both the “democracy and governance” and “gender equality” domains, specifically 18.8 and 13.9 points below the EU average, respectively. Substantial endogenous deficits can also be observed in both domains (–10.0 and –10.3, respectively). These are higher than the average endogenous deficits in the EU as a whole. In sum, in the 4MC there are notable societal deficits in democracy and governance and in gender inequality. The 4MC have exogenous and endogenous surpluses in both health conditions and environmental sustainability, the quality level of the former being 4.8 points higher than the EU average. Even so, a correct appraisal of this figure involves taking into account that the average exogenous deficit of the 4MC with respect to the EU as a whole—that is, the difference between their SQIs and that of the EU—is –9.5. This means that the relative improvement in health conditions is equivalent to 14.3 points (the sum of 4.8 and 9.5). The endogenous figure 2. Societal quality: The Five Europes Typology. Source: own elaboration. The societal quality of southern European Mediterranean countries 57 RES n.º 29 (1) (2020) pp. 49-69. ISSN: 1578-2824 surplus in this domain (+20.1) is more than remarkable. Regarding the “environmental sustainability’ domain, the absolute exogenous surplus is lower (0.1), the relative surplus thus amounting to +9.6 (the sum of 0.1 and 9.5). This domain also has a high endogenous surplus (+5.0). In short, in the 4MC there are noteworthy societal surpluses in health conditions and in environmental quality. As to subjective well-being, there is an exogenous deficit that, nonetheless, is lower than the general one (–3.5 versus –9.5), which should be interpreted as a relative surplus. Accordingly, the endogenous balance is positive (+5.6). In other words, the 4MC enjoy a relatively high level of subjective well-being, at least judging by their average societal quality levels in this regard. The 4MC have exogenous deficits that are higher than average in the following domains: wellbeing of the elderly (–16.3); culture and innovation (–11.5); and consumption (–13.4). However, when comparing their respective quality levels with their general SQIs, only slight endogenous deficits are detected (+0.9, –3.2 and –1.6, respectively). In brief, the societal quality of the 4MC as regards the well-being of the elderly, culture and innovation, and consumption is far-removed from EU averages, although in these three domains no lags in their own societal progress can be observed. Lastly, it is important to comment on the situation in two key domains, viz. those of social participation and social equality. The levels of social participation and capital in the 4MC (28.0) are way below those in the Nordic countries (74.2), yet still comparable to the EU average (31.6). This is due to the fact that the high political and social participation in the Nordic countries is an exceptional case. Such a high maximum level, in addition to demonstrating that the levels of participation in the rest of the EU Member States leave a lot to be desired, means that these all have important endogenous deficits. This is the case with the 4MC that, although they have a slight exogenous deficit with respect to the EU average—which even approaches that of the continental cluster—have a very high endogenous deficit (–15.4). In the “social equality” domain, the data reveal a paradox. When comparing societal quality levels with the EU average, an evident exogenous deficit (–12.7) can be observed, which is even higher than the general exogenous deficit of the SQI (–9.5). But when the quality level of this domain is compared with the general SQI, a high endogenous surplus is revealed (+13.3). In short, even though the level of social equality in the 4MC is quite a bit lower than the EU average, it is significantly higher than that of their own average societal progress. Table 2. Societal quality in the Five Europes and the 4MC. General SQI and domain quality levels*. Exogenous and endogenous difference. Cluster Social Quality Index Quality of life Subjective WellBeing Social participation Culture and Innovation Democracy and governance Consumption Quality of work Social Equality Gender Equality Child Well Being Well-being of the elderly health Conditions Crime and safety Environment Nordic 80.9 89.0 79.1 74.2 80.7 89.8 68.4 70.4 94.1 78.0 87.2 88.7 71.4 80.7 49.3 Continental 62.9 69.8 58.0 34.7 65.6 67.1 72.7 48.0 80.3 56.5 58.9 75.2 66.5 64.2 46.8 Mediterranean 45.0 49.8 50.8 26.8 41.3 36.2 42.2 34.6 61.5 34.0 48.9 48.1 62.5 48.4 49.2 Eastern 33.7 35.5 33.4 15.2 25.7 30.8 31.1 32.1 56.7 30.3 35.9 30.5 36.2 44.7 50.9 Balkan 16.0 7.8 24.9 11.6 8.8 3.1 11.2 25.1 9.7 27.4 8.8 33.0 13.5 23.4 48.5 Total 52.9 57.8 52.5 31.6 51.7 52.2 55.2 42.7 69.4 47.0 52.5 60.6 58.7 56.4 48.3 4MC** 43.4 48.2 49.0 28.0 40.2 33.4 41.8 33.6 56.7 33.1 47.5 44.3 63.5 45.6 48.4 Exogen. diff –9.5 –9.6 –3.5 –3.6 –11.5 –18.8 –13.4 –9.1 –12,7 –13.9 –5.0 –16.3 +4.8 –10.8 +0.1 Endogen. diff. 0,0 +4.8 +5.6 –15.4 –3.2 –10.0 –1.6 –9.8 +13.3 –10.3 +4.1 +0.9 +20.1 +2.2 +5.0 Source: own elaboration * Arithmetic mean, weighted by population, of the average percentile ranks of the countries in each cluster. ** 4MC: Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece. RES n.º 29 (1) (2020) pp. 49-69. ISSN: 1578-2824 The societal quality of southern European Mediterranean countries 64 cits affect both extrinsic (wages, contracts, working hours, etc.) and intrinsic labour dimensions (rhythm of work, significance, social relations, etc.) (Eurofound, 2012). The endogenous deficits in democracy and governance confirm the view that this is also a defining feature of the 4MC. Yet, this is much greater in Italy (–14.2), Greece (–13.9) and Spain (–7.0), than in Portugal (+5.0), a clear exception to the rule. In the European Quality of Government Index (Charron, Lapuente and Dijkstra, 2012), Portugal ranks 14th, only one position behind Spain, while Greece and Italy rank 22nd and 25th, respectively. Both the Democracy Barometer (Bühlmann et al., 2012) and the World Governance Indicators (WGI) (Kaufmann, Kraav and Mastruzzi, 2010) bear out this pattern. The endogenous deficits in gender equality are yet another structural weakness of the 4MC, the huge deficit in Italy (–17.6) and, to a lesser extent, in Greece (–9.1) being particularly noteworthy. From the analysis of the three dimensions of the European Gender Equality Index (Bericat and Sánchez, 2016) it can be observed that the main weaknesses of the 4MC are to be found in the area of power inequality between men and women. In this respect, both Italy (32.4) and Greece (26.6) have a very low level of gender equality, while in Portugal (42.9) and above all Spain (50.1) this is slightly higher as regards power, but nonetheless still falling way short of full equality. Lastly, another major endogenous deficit in the 4MC is to be found in knowledge and innovation culture. Portugal (–15.2) has the greatest deficit in this domain, while the situation in Spain (+0.6) is more favourable. Specifically, Portugal ranks low in the Global Creativity Index (GCI) (Florida, Mellander and King, 2015), especially as regards technology (investment and patents) and talent (creative classes and qualifications). In sum, since the endogenous approach involves a multidimensional comparison of the internal structure of the 4MC, it is ideal for constructing a profile of their own deficits and surpluses, irrespective of any external comparison. The synthetic profiles of Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece, which can be constructed from the data contained in Table 4, are shown below. The major endogenous deficits in Greece affect the well-being of the elderly, democracy and governance, crime and safety and gender equality. On the plus side, health conditions and environmental sustainability, as well as consumption and social equality, stand out. In Italy, the greatest endogenous deficits are to be found in gender inequality and democracy and governance, followed by social and political participation and quality of work. In contrast, it has endogenous surpluses in health conditions and quality of the healthcare sector, social equality and quality of life. In Portugal, there are important endogenous deficits in social and political participation, culture and innovation and quality of work. As to its endogenous surpluses, noteworthy are its good health conditions, low crime rate and high level of safety, in addition to its good environmental conditions. The greatest endogenous deficit in Spain is in social and political participation, followed at a distance by consumption and quality of work. As to its endogenous surpluses, there is no domain that stands out above the rest, but five that are equally positive when compared to the country’s average level of societal quality: health conditions, child well-being, crime and safety, subjective well-being and social equality. Lastly, the full profile of the endogenous and exogenous surpluses and deficits in the 4MC is represented in Figure 3, while those of Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece can be seen in Figures 4, 5, 6 and 7, which show the distance separating each domain from both the EU average (exogenous difference) and their overall SQIs (endogenous difference). CONClUSIONS The purpose of this study has been to offer researchers, policymakers and those interested in getting to know the current situation in the Southern European Mediterranean countries, an overview of their societal quality levels from a holistic, multidimensional and comprehensive perspective. In this sense, the analysis of the data provided by the System of Indices on the Quality of European Societies The societal quality of southern European Mediterranean countries 65 RES n.º 29 (1) (2020) pp. 49-69. ISSN: 1578-2824 figure 4. Portugal’s exogenous and endogenous deficits and surpluses, by societal quality domains. Source: own elaboration. figure 5. Spain’s exogenous and endogenous deficits and surpluses, by societal quality domains. Source: own elaboration. Endogenous differences Endogenous differences Exogenous differences Spain Portugal Exogenous differences RES n.º 29 (1) (2020) pp. 49-69. ISSN: 1578-2824 The societal quality of southern European Mediterranean countries 66 figure 6. Italy’s exogenous and endogenous deficits and surpluses, by societal quality domains. Source: own elaboration. figure 7. Greece’s exogenous and endogenous deficits and surpluses, by societal quality domains. Source: own elaboration. Italy Greece Exogenous differences Exogenous differences Endogenous differences Endogenous differences The societal quality of southern European Mediterranean countries 67 RES n.º 29 (1) (2020) pp. 49-69. ISSN: 1578-2824 (SIQES), has demonstrated that a diagnosis cannot be performed on the strength of a sole aspect, however relevant this may be. In light of the above, it has been possible to demonstrate that neither do all the domains attain the same quality levels nor do all the countries have an identical profile. The problem arising when offering a simple and unequivocal diagnosis lies in the multidimensional and complex nature of social reality itself. For this reason, examining societal quality in many of its domains and in a large number of countries offers us an extraordinary overview. A knowledge of this global configuration contributes to frame analyses of specific social settings and phenomena in the context of a broader social structure, which in a way gives it meaning. In other words, it contributes to prevent missing the forest for the trees in its necessary study. In no way do we suggest that social analyses of specific phenomena are less necessary than multidimensional or comprehensive ones, or vice versa. On the contrary, we believe that both are complementary and essential for offering a detailed, complete, structural and timely picture of social reality. Throughout these pages, and to the extent permitted by space limitations, we have attempted to ascertain, here and there, some of the details of current reality revealed by the data provided by the focused composite indicators forming part of the system. It is clear that the structural overview offered here is pointless without an exhaustive knowledge of the social features described above. But it is also equally evident that studies and research conducted on particular aspects of the social reality of the Southern European Mediterranean countries (4MC) now have an overview in which to contextualise and integrate their results. Indeed, we believe that the analysis of the research performed by the authors of the composite indicators forming part of the system is fundamental. Therefore, we will yet again refer readers to the book entitled, The Quality of European Societies. A Compilation of Composite Indicators, which contains comprehensive estimates and bibliographical references for all these indices. At any rate, what is relevant is that the Southern European Mediterranean countries may continue to make progress in order to reach higher levels of societal quality in the foreseeable future. Since their SQIs are located in the percentile ranks of between 40 and 50, they currently occupy intermediate positions in the context of the EU, although that of Greece, a country currently immersed in a fullblown social crisis, is substantially lower at present. Therefore, even though it is true that societal quality levels in the 4MC fall short of those in continental Europe and especially the Nordic countries, they certainly do not bring up the rear anymore, as some are wont to say. The analysis performed here demonstrates that the Southern European Mediterranean countries have sufficient endogenous potentialities to face new societal development challenges. To this end, they must clearly define those challenges and have the political will to tackle them. For example, we have seen that, in spite of their general endogenous deficits, they exceed the EU average in environmental quality and health conditions, which is an enormous achievement in two essential areas. In other domains, such as subjective well-being and child well-being, they are ranked comparatively high. Before concluding we feel that we should recap on the five domains in which the Southern European Mediterranean countries have evident endogenous deficits, namely, those with quality levels below their general SQIs. These are as follows: social and political participation; quality of work; democracy and governance; gender equality; and culture and innovation. These are key areas not only because achieving high levels of societal quality is inconceivable without substantially improving each one of them, but basically because societal development in the Mediterranean depends on these five domains as essential drivers of progress. Their future transformation will depend on the development and enhancement of new forms of social participation and cohesion, on the adequate management of their labour markets and improvements in the workplace, on the reform of their political systems and the enhancement of their democratic quality and on a final push towards a model of society based on gender equality and the expansion of education and knowledge in a social context in which priority is given to creativity and innovation. The development of these five domains would not be so crucial if it were not for the fact that RES n.º 29 (1) (2020) pp. 49-69. ISSN: 1578-2824 The societal quality of southern European Mediterranean countries 68 they are all structural weaknesses inherent to the Southern European Mediterranean countries. It has been demonstrated here that these countries form a group because they share common features, essentially those that have undermined, and still undermine, their societal progress. 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Purpose, methodology and results. London: HelpAge International. BIOGRAphICAl NOTES Eduardo Bericat is a Full Professor of Sociology at the University of Seville (Spain). He is a sociologist and social researcher. He has conducted researches in the fields of socio-economic and cultural development of contemporary societies, social values, emotions, social indicators, and social change. He has been visiting researcher at the Universities of Michigan, California, and Essex. His most recent books are Excluidos de la felicidad. La estratificación social del bienestar emocional en España (CIS, 2018) [Excluded from Happiness. The Social Stratification of Emotional Well-Being in Spain] and The Quality of European Societies. A Compilation of Composite Indicators (Springer, 2019). Rubén Martín-Gimeno is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the Pablo Olavide University, Seville (Spain). His teaching work alternates with his professional work, where he has developed a career for more than 15 years in social research. His main works as a social researcher were done as a collaborator of the Institute of Statistics and Cartography of Andalusia in areas such as the study of family networks, education, social mobility or methodological reflection in the search for quality data in surveys.