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Political Parties The Nature of Cleavages in Western European Democracies |
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CONCEPTS Models of Political Development
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Most political systems that strive to be legitimate (or claim to be) argue that they represent "the people". Yet most political philosophers argue that "the people" is a fiction, created by those in power to justify their actions. In the second lecture, we talked about the concept of linkage (connecting people to government) and how interest articulation is the cornerstone of linkage. We also recognized that systems of representation, election, and parties, are the keys to this linkage. We thus need to know about differences in systems of representation, differences in electoral systems, and differences in party systems in various countries. Unfortunately there are great many countries, each with its unique culture, history, contemporary problems, and unique set of linkage mechanisms. By exploring differences in some countries, perhaps by the end of the semester we'll be able to make some generalizations that will demonstrate a sophisticated knowledge of political parties and elections! Hopefully you now know at least a little about the
differences between parliamentary systems ( In exploring difference in systems we need to make some comparisons between:
The
In his article "Social Bases of Party Support", But first, let's look closer at European party system development! According to Lipset and Rokkan, two major "revolutions" shaped the
national and socio-economic development of 1) the National Revolution; and 2) the Industrial Revolution
The National Revolution The National Revolution is linked the process of nation building which we discussed earlier in the semester. (Access the link: Models of Political Development). Note that the first three steps in the sequence of political development emphasize the building of the nation: identity, legitimacy, and penetration. The National Revolution, in turn, created two types of cleavages in European societies: 1) the center-periphery cleavage; and 2) the church-state cleavage
The center-periphery cleavage is a clash between the dominant national culture of a country against ethnic, linguistic or religious minorities throughout the country (or more normally concentrated in particular areas). Conflicts generally occur over disparate values and the desire to preserve one's unique cultural identity. In
The church-state cleavage
often pitted the forces of nationalism, secularism and Protestantism against
the forces of the Catholic Church and "the old regimes". This
occurs historically in part due to the fact that the Catholic Church often
enjoyed "corporate privileges of place" in traditional
monarchical regimes. That is, they were part of the ruling elite. It is
reflective of the role that the Reformation played
in the development of European society. Nationalist movements, often
fueled by a rising entrepreneurial class, and often Protestant, challenged
the traditional patterns of power in many countries. Differences between
countries (notably northern vs. southern The church-state cleavage is less powerful today than a
century-and-a-half ago although vestiges of it remain in the political
parties of some of the countries throughout The Netherland's Christian Democratic Appeal
The Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution of the nineteenth century introduced dramatic changes in social relations. Vast wealth could be generated without the need for vast amounts of land (the traditional source of wealth in pre-Industrial societies) and people could drastically alter their lifestyle and prospects by moving into urban areas to sell their labor. The dynamics of these new sets of relationships generated two cleavages in most European societies: 1) the land-industry cleavage; and 2) the owners workers cleavage The land-industry cleavage often separated those who power was based upon rural and agrarian interests versus those who interests were tied to the rising industrial, entrepreneurial class. While the land-industry cleavage is usually about economic power (falling for agrarian interests and rising for industrial interests) it is also often a battle over values. Agrarian and rural interests often attach special meaning and value to the land and nature and see industrialism and urbanization as factors which contribute to the "downfall" of an idealized rural life. The Center Party
of The owners-workers cleavage reflects the different interests of those (in Marxian terms) who own the means of production (owners) and those who must sell their labor (workers). In many countries, where popular participation in government was limited to a few, labor unions often became the vehicle for the articulation of worker interests. As the franchise expanded, certain political parties worked hand-in-hand with labor unions to fight for the interests of the working class. Other parties arose to fight for the interests of owners, small businesses, and the self-employed. Many European parties have roots in this cleavage: The Labour Party of and the Communist
Party of
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