The Impact of Structural and Ideological Party Cleavages in West European Democracies: A Comparative Empirical Analysis
01 Jul 1988-British Journal of Political Science (Cambridge University Press)-Vol. 18, Iss: 03, pp 323-352
TL;DR: In this article, the relative impact of different political cleavages on party preference in a comparative West European context is examined, and it is shown that the MPM cleavage is an important party cleavage in most of the countries examined.
Abstract: This article examines the relative impact of different political cleavages on party preference in a comparative West European context. The point of departure is the so-called ‘new polities’ theory, which postulates that the value polarization between materialist and post-materialist (MPM) political orientation is a new and increasingly important dimension in this respect.The findings from ten West European democracies confirm that the MPM cleavage is an important party cleavage in most of the countries examined, although the traditional structural cleavages are still most important from a causal perspective. The MPM dimension does not, however, have the largest impact in the most advanced industrial democracies, something new politics theory appears to contend. Another ideological cleavage dimension – ‘Left-Right Materialism’ – is also an important party cleavage, and appears to have most impact in the most advanced (post-industrial) West European countries.
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TL;DR: The authors examines the emerging structure of party competition in the new democracies of Eastern Europe and argues that the relationship between the social bases, issue dimensions and stability of competition in countries in the region will vary depending on their differing experience of marketization, ethnic homogeneity and established statehood.
Abstract: This article examines the emerging structure of party competition in the new democracies of Eastern Europe. It argues that the relationship between the social bases, issue dimensions and stability of party competition in countries in the region will vary depending on their differing experience of marketization, ethnic homogeneity and established statehood. In some countries, the predicted framework of party competition will derive from socio-economic divisions and will resemble that found in the West; in other countries, ethnicity and nation-building will provide the principal structuring factors; in yet other cases, where severe constraints exist on the emergence of any clear bases or dimensions, competition will centre on valence issues from which high voter volatility may be expected. Except where Western-type competition obtains, considerable doubts exist about the future stability of political systems in the region.
278 citations
TL;DR: The field of comparative political behavior has experienced an ironic course of development over the past generation, the field has generated a dramatic increase in the knowledge about how people think about politics, become politically engaged, and make their political decisions as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The field of comparative political behavior has experienced an ironic course of development. Over the past generation, the field has generated a dramatic increase in the knowledge about how people think about politics, become politically engaged, and make their political decisions. Empirical data on citizen attitudes are now available on a near global scale. However, this increase in knowledge has occurred as the processes and structures of contemporary politics are transforming citizen politics. Thus, although more is known about contemporary electorates, the behavior of the public has become more complex and individualistic, which limits the ability to explain the behavior with the most common models. This article documents the expansion of this knowledge in several areas—political culture, political cognition, voting behavior, and political participation—and discusses the current research challenges facing the field.
217 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a measure of voter ideology is proposed, which combines party manifesto data compiled by Budge, Robertson, Heari, Klingemann, and Volkens (1992) with election return data.
Abstract: We propose a measure of voter ideology which combines party manifesto data compiled by Budge, Robertson, Heari, Klingemann, and Volkens (1992) and updated by Volkens (1995), with election return data. Assuming the comparability and relevance of left- right ideology, we estimate the median voter position in 15 Western democracies throughout most of the postwar period. The plausibility of our assumptions, and therefore the validity of our measure, is supported by the results of several validity tests. With this new measure we are able to make cross-national comparisons of voter ideology among these countries as well as cross- time comparisons within individual countries. We discuss the potential application of our measure to various debates in political science.
207 citations
Cites background from "The Impact of Structural and Ideolo..."
...Indeed, recent evidence suggests that although ideological cleavages are not as strongly related to class position as they once were, the left-right dimension remains a most significant, if not dominant cleavage in Western democracies (Blais et al. 1993; Budge & Robertson 1987; Knutsen 1988; Lijphart 1984; Morgan 1976; Warwick 1992).4...
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TL;DR: This paper proposed a continuous measure of government partisanship, which allows meaningful comparisons across countries and across time, for 17 Western democracies for the period of 1945 through 1998, based upon a manifesto-based measure of party ideology.
Abstract: In this article, we put forward a continuous measure of government partisanship, which allows meaningful comparisons across countries and across time, for 17 Western democracies for the period of 1945 through 1998. Our measure is predicated upon a manifesto-based measure of party ideology recently developed by Kim and Fording (1998), along with yearly cabinet post data. After discussing the validity of our measure, we repli- cate one of the most cited works in comparative political economy over the last ten years - Alvarez, Garrett and Lange's (1991) analysis of economic performance - by utilizing our own measure of government partisanship. We conclude that comparativists need to exercise greater caution in interpreting and evaluating the past findings of a large number of multi- variate studies in comparative politics.
108 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors test the hypothesis that postwar affluence led to an intergenerational shift from Materialist to Post-Materialist values among Western publics, and analyzes the consequences of the economic uncertainty prevailing since 1973.
Abstract: This article tests the hypothesis that postwar affluence led to an intergenerational shift from Materialist to Post-Materialist values among Western publics, and analyzes the consequences of the economic uncertainty prevailing since 1973. The young emphasize Post-Materialist values more than the old. Time-series data indicate that this reflects generational change far more than aging effects, but that the recession of the mid-1970s also produced significant period effects. As Post-Materialists aged, they moved out of the student ghetto and became a predominant influence among young technocrats, contributing to the rise of a “New Class.” They furnish the ideologues and core support for the environmental, zero-growth and antinuclear movements; and their opposition to those who give top priority to reindustrialization and rearmament constitutes a distinctive and persisting dimension of political cleavage.
656 citations