How to increase public support for radical ideas in post-growth transformation? The case of maximum income

Can a radical and innovative policy idea such as a maximum income become a real alternative? Despite increased public awareness of the unprecedented ecological crises and the urgent need to transform our current ways of regulating economic activities, few eco-social policies with true transformative potential have been introduced. This seminar begins by presenting the notion of post-growth and the challenge of reducing economic inequalities in post-growth societies. It explains why income and wealth caps are important and how these radical policies have been designed in the past and helped reduce inequalities. Then, an exploratory sequential research project based on vignettes is presented. It aims to understand how people reason about the idea of maximum income and how different policy designs affect public support. Findings identify 6 logics of thinking among the participants. Furthermore, several components of policy design have a strong impact on public support. A maximum income with a low maximum triggers strong rejection while a list of eco-social redistributive measures and a regulation at the European level increase support for the policy. In short, these results show how policy design impacts public support for maximum income and suggest that this support could be much higher than what has been estimated so far.