According to Arend Lijphart, there are seven issue dimensions which shape partisan conflict in many democracies. These dimensions are:

1) the socio-economic dimension

There are four party positions that dominate party considerations on socio-economic policy:
a) governmental vs. private ownership;
b) a strong vs. weak governmental role in economic planning;
c) support of vs. opposition to the redistribution of wealth from the rich to the poor; and
d) the expansion of vs. resistance to governmental social welfare programs.

2) the religious dimension

There tend to be a range of moral issues which divide:
a) marriage and divorce
b) birth control and abortion
c) sex education

3) the cultural-ethnic dimension

This dimension is discovered in societies with linguistic and/ or cultural minorities.

4) the urban rural dimension

In some societies, differences occur between those who live in agricultural areas and those who live in urban areas. While most countries have experienced a declined in agrarian-oriented parties, some parties, such as Australia's National Party, still represent the interests of agrarian or rural people.

5) the regime support dimension

This dimension exists when there are parties opposed to the democratic regime or demand drastic changes to the operation of the current political system.

6) the foreign policy dimension

A dimension which exists when there are huge disagreements about a foreign policy issue (such as membership in NATO, entrance in the Common Market, etc.).

7) the materialsist vs. post-materialist dimension

This dimension reflects the tension in modern advanced industrial democracies surrounding "conservative socialism". It is a reaction to the impersonality and remoteness of centralized bureaucratic decisionmaking as well as a reaction to the predominance pf an economic growth orientation. It reflects itself as a movement towards participatory democracy and/ or environmentalism.

Return to Ruritania's Socio-demographic characteristics page