Cleavage Formation in the 21st Century: How Social Identities Shape Voting Behavior in Contexts of Electoral Realignment (Elements in European Politics)

By: Silja Häusermann and Simon Bornschier and Lukas Haffert and Marco Steenbergen and Delia Zollinger

Sign Up Now! Already a Member? Log In
You must be logged into Bookshare to access this title. Learn about membership options, or view our freely available titles.

Synopsis: Western Europe is experiencing growing levels of political polarization between parties of the New Left and the Far Right. The authors argue that this antagonism reflects the emergence of a social cleavage between universalism and particularism. To understand cleavage formation in the midst of party system fragmentation and the proliferation of new competitors, they emphasize the crucial role of group identities. Anchored in social structure, group identities help us understand why specific party appeals resonate with certain groups, thereby mediating the link between socio-structural change and broader party blocks defined by their distinctive ideologies along the new cleavage. Based on original survey data from France, Germany, Switzerland, and the UK, this Element presents evidence for the formation of a universalism–particularism cleavage across European party systems that diverge strongly on institutional and political characteristics. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Book Quality:: Publisher Quality
ISBN-13:: 9781009393485
Related ISBNs:: 9781009475921, 9781009475921
Publisher:: Cambridge University Press
Date of Addition:: 12/05/24
Copyrighted By:: Simon Bornschier, Lukas Haffert, Silja Häusermann, Marco Steenbergen, and Delia Zollinger
Adult content:: No
Language:: English
Has Image Descriptions:: No
Categories:: Nonfiction, Politics and Government
Submitted By:: Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:: This is a copyrighted book.