C2 Cleavages, Ideologies, and Political Parties (W1.2) PDF

C2 CLEAVAGES IDEOLOGIES AND POLITICAL PARTIES (W1.2) I. READINGS A. Lipset, S.M., & Rokkan, S. (1990). Cleavage Structures, Party Systems, and Voter Alignments. In Mair, P. (ed.), The West European Party System. Oxford: Oxford University Press (chapter 9,...

C2 CLEAVAGES IDEOLOGIES AND POLITICAL PARTIES (W1.2) I. READINGS A. Lipset, S.M., & Rokkan, S. (1990). Cleavage Structures, Party Systems, and Voter Alignments. In Mair, P. (ed.), The West European Party System. Oxford: Oxford University Press (chapter 9, pp. 91-138). - Cleavage Theory: The authors identify four key historical cleavages—center vs. periphery, state vs. church, urban vs. rural, and capital vs. labor—that structure political con ict and party systems in Western Europe. - Freezing Hypothesis: Party systems and voter alignments became "frozen" in the early 20th century, with social divisions from the late 19th century remaining stable due to institutional factors like electoral systems. - Party Systems: Cleavages shape the number and type of political parties, in uencing whether a system is two-party or multi-party, with parties aligning along social and economic divisions. - Voter Loyalties: These social cleavages lead to stable, long-lasting voter-party alignments, though new issues and movements (e.g., environmentalism) can introduce new cleavages and alter party competition. B. Erdmann, G. (2004). Party research: Western European bias and the ‘African labyrinth’ - Critiques western european bias in party research, particularly when applied to African political contexts - Western models of party systems are often uncritically applied to African politics - These models assume stable political institutions and fail to account for the unique social, economic and historical contexts in African countries leading to awed analyses - Weak institutionalization, clientelism and neopatrimonialism =/= western norms - PP in African= less ideologically driven, more centered around individual leaders, ethnic groups or patronage networks - Common typologies (e.g., mass vs. cadre parties, programmatic vs. clientelist parties) do not neatly apply to the African party landscape. - Party loyalty is often based on access to state resources rather than ideological alignment or democratic competition. - Erdmann calls for greater sensitivity to local contexts and the development of new frameworks speci cally tailored to African realities. - African party systems are shaped by historical legacies (e.g., colonialism), ethnic diversity, and socio-economic conditions, which Western theories often overlook. C. Bornschier, S. (2009). Cleavage Politics in Old and New Democracies. Living Review in Democracy, 1 (1) - examines how political cleavages—social divisions that structure political competition— di er between established (old) and newer democracies, and how these cleavages evolve over time. - Political cleavages are rooted in social divisions (e.g., class, religion, ethnicity) and are central to understanding political party systems and voter alignments. - Traditional cleavages, such as class and religious divides, shaped party competition in older democracies, particularly in Western Europe. - In long-established democracies, cleavages have historically been more stable, with parties often organized around enduring social divisions like labor vs. capital or church vs. state. - Over time, however, traditional cleavages have weakened due to processes like social modernization, secularization, and economic changes (e.g., globalization) - In newer democracies (particularly in post-communist and developing regions), cleavages are less institutionalized and more uid. - Bornschier argues that in new democracies, cleavages may be based more on ethnicity, region, or other divisions, rather than the class or religious lines typical of older democracies. - The formation and solidi cation of cleavages in new democracies are in uenced by unique historical and socio-political contexts ff fi fi fl fl fl fl fl  - Political parties in both old and new democracies play a key role in structuring and representing cleavages. In older democracies, parties have typically institutionalized around speci c cleavages, while in new democracies, this process is often still unfolding. - In new democracies, the alignment between social divisions and party systems may take time to stabilize, with cleavages potentially shifting as democratic consolidation progresses. - Bornschier highlights how economic and cultural transformations (e.g., globalization, immigration) can lead to the emergence of new cleavages, particularly around issues of national identity, cultural values, and global integration. - These new cleavages may realign party competition, challenging older alignments based on class or religion. - The study underscores the di erences in the development and role of cleavages in old versus new democracies. While older democracies have more established patterns of political competition, new democracies often experience greater volatility and uidity in party-voter alignments. - calls for more comparative research on cleavage politics, especially in the context of new democracies. - Understanding how cleavages emerge and evolve in di erent contexts is crucial for comprehending the dynamics of political competition and party systems across democracies. II. CLASS NOTES What are cleavage? - cleavage= social divisions creating a collective identity among those on each side of the divide. In society, people have interests that di er from others - It exist a wide variety of cleavages’ types: gender, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, geography, language, class, religion, values - Many cleavages are not (strongly) politicized, meaning that they remain dormant (age, gender) - Main question for pol scientists, which cleavages become politically salient? - PP « establish regular channels for the expression of con icting interests in democratic nation- states » - In authoritarian (and some hybrid) regimes cleavages may be present but cannot be a source of political competition; they are suppressed Political cleavages by Lipset & rokkan - owner vs worker - Church vs state - Urban vs rural - Centre vs periphery - Has emerged the most strongly in the last century - Ex: corsica and france, … Overlapping vs Cross-Cutting cleavages - Overlapping/parallel cleavages: more polarization - Northern Ireland: centre//periphery & protestants//catholics for unionists and republicans - Cross cutting cleavages: less polarization - Belgium: Europe: two revolutions: - importance (and sequence) of cleavage di ers per country - French (national) revolution - Centre-periphery - Church-state (educational system for ex) - Industriel revolution - Class fi ff ff ff ff fl fl  - Urban-rural Centre-Periphery cleavage - originated in French/national revolution - Reaction to political centralization - Con ict between more powerful centre and weaker periphery - Con ict about autonomy; cultural rights and privileges - Outcomes - Secession (eritrea, ireland, pakistan, Slovakia) - Substate autonomy/federalism (Belgium, india, nigeria) - E ective absorption into unitary state (fr, Italy) - Persistent tension (indonesia, spain, UK) - Creates regional/secessionist parties Religious cleavage - originated in French Revolution - Originally: con ict between new (nationalist/secular) elites and the clergy - But can also refer to: con ict between di erent religious denominations (catholic-protestant in Northern Ireland for ex, Hindu-Muslim, …) - Con ict centers on religious rights and role of religion in public life (especially: education) - Created confessional/conservative vs liberal parties Class cleavage (probably one of the strongest) - originated in industrial revolution - Owners of capital and established elites vs working class - Con ict about economic conditions, political rights, redistribution - Present in virtually all democracies - Strength depends on perceived opportunities for mobility (see: US) - Created socialist / social democratic / communist parties - Versus: conservative, confessional and liberal parties Rural-urban cleavage - landed aristocracy versus new industrialists - Old versus new money - Positions in the state and power - Mostly resolved through social mobility for new industrialists - Less elitist cleavage still present Nordic countries: economic di erences - Revival as reaction to green movement? Cleavages & ideologies - Party formation around dominant cleavage, supported by ideology: how to tackle cleavage? - ideology: collection of beliefs and values - Can be invoked to mobilize people around cleavages - Common heuristic: lest & right - Shifting meaning: - Republican (left) vs monarchist (right) - Progressive (left) vs conservative (right) - Secular (left) vs confessional (right) - State-led economy (left) vs free market laissez faire (right) Measuring ideologies - mapping the « isms » Freezing hypothesis - Lipset & Rokkan: same parties and programmes around for a long time. The 1960s resembles ff fl fl fl fl fl fl ff ff  the 1920s: why? - Strengthening party alignment (eg. Polarization or verzuiling) - Parties based on societal cleavages but also sustain these cleavages as ‘political entrepreneurs’ - Manipulation electoral rules (though mass su rage eventually implemented) In uence of electoral systems: - A ect the composition of the party system (Duverger’s law) - Majority/plurality systems tend to result in two party competition - FPTP/SMD, two round system, alternative vote - proportional/mixed systems facilitate multi party system - List PR, single transferable vote, mixed member proportional - majority & plurality systems limit the number of cleavages that can be expressed in party competition Beyond Lipset & Rokkan - since the 60s: new politicized cleavages have emerged - The silent revolution ` - Transnational cleavage The Silent Revolution (1960s-1970s) - Inglehart: value change in postindustrial democracies - Shift from material to post-material values - Post-material values: - Democracy - Human rights (women, LGBTQ+) - Environment - Paci sm - Post-material values prominent among younger and wealthy voters - Post-materialism and party system change: emergence of New Left, Social Liberal and Green parties => political entrepreneurs! - New parties in PR systems; incorporation of ideological elements into existing parties in majoritarian system A new transnational cleavage? - Hooghe & Marks (2018): response to immigration (and EU-integration) - The winners vs. the losers of globalization - Focus on: - immigration and multiculturalism - globalization and nationalism - culture and identity - majoritarian vs. liberal democracy - climate change (?) Covid-19 (?) - In some countries incorporated into existing party system (UK, US) - In others: emergence of new parties (France, Italy) (partly due to slow responding mainstream parties) New conceptualizations left right ff fl fi ff  Transformation of cleavages - Lipset and Rokkan: the “freezing hypothesis” - Alignment: party identi cation on the basis of cleavage structures & ideologies - Recent decades - Realignment: shifting party identi cation on the basis of changing cleavages, resulting in (dramatic) changes in party system - Dealignment: declining party identi cation that is not replaced with a new one Realignment: electoral volatility - Pedersen index: party vote changes form one election to the next one Dealignment: decreasing turnout So all of these are problems faced by the old democracies and now we move on to the new demo Cleavages in New Democracies - Cleavages can explain party systems in New Democracies, but di erent cleavages - Explanations: - No large-scale internal processes of state formation - No contestation for su rage rights (exception: South Africa) - Greater role for individual politicians due to the absence of strong social organizations - Results: - High electoral volatility - Personalistic politics - Ethnic parties - Valence programmes (no one can be against) & clientelistic politics Ideology not necessarily absent Electoral volatility very high in the new democracies The Ethnic Party Cleavage - Associated strongly with African parties - But similarities centre periphery cleavage (cfr. Ireland, Belgium) - Roots of political saliency ethnicity Colonial and post colonial dynamics - lack of nation building? - Colonialism put them together but did not give them nation building phenomena - Or anti-nation-building? Heightening ethnic divides - based on the di erent interest of the colonizers, what is economically interesting - Belgian colonial rule in Rwanda and Burundi (Urundi) - Tutsi minority but « tall, majestic, natural » - Hutu majority, but « short, stubby, smiling fools » - Ethnic identity cards policy Prevention cross-cutting cleavages - only cultural associations allowed under colonial rule-> narrow bases early political mobilization - To organize= having ties w people of your own cultural group - Patrice Lumumba, independence leader in Congo - Kwame Nkrumah: homme d’Etat indépendantiste et panafricanisme ghanéen Authoritarian rule & third wave - leaders claimed to ght for nationalism but held on to power and often advantaged own group - Exception of Tanzania in which the leader decided to uses the language of the minority - Stewart (2002) ‘Horizontal Inequalities: A Neglected Dimension of Development’ - Inequality based on cultural group status (political, socio-economic, cultural) - Di erent from vertical inequality like Gini ff ff fi ff fi fi fi ff  Third wave of democratization - return of multiparty democracy in the 1990s: return ethnic voting through variation - Even if new democracies are known to be associated with ethnic voting this is not always the case Multi-ethnic/ethnic congress parties - Not always clear majority ethnic group - Need to establish coalitions, not based on programmes but based on sharing state resources (often based on corruption and clientelism) - Campaigns based on valence issues (development, better roads, anti-corruption, employment), but mostly identity, personality, and clientelism Clientelism - Clientelism: reciprocal relation between patron (politician) and client (voter) - Client o ers patron political support in exchange for material bene ts - Jobs (patronage) - Food - Money (vote-buying) - Permits, loans - Often juxtaposed to programmatic politics (but) Clientelism and Democracy - Negative connotations clientelism - Exclusive nature (ethnic bias) - Use of state resources to retain incumbency - But also: competitive clientelism - Example of Ghana: - Competitive - Turnover - Stability Global rise personalist and identity politics? - trump, Orban, le pen —> not about the parties but about the persons Authoritarian regimes Cleavages and con ict - societal cleavages not channelled through multiparty competition - Alternative dynamics - Violent con ict - Mass protests (the Tiananmen Square protests and massacre in 1989 China) - Questions on (and predictions of?) political instability and regime change ff fl fl fi