The shifting class-base of social democratic parties in Western Europe
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7989465 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Achim Hildebrandt (0000-0001-7389-3899, University of Stuttgart), Sebastian Jäckle (0000-0002-9258-4888, University of Freiburg, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 579-596 |
| Publication date | 2021-04-05 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | European Politics and Society (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2374-5126 • E-ISSN: 2374-5118 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/23745118.2021.1909806 |
| OpenAlex | W3150474243 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 27 |
In a classic piece, Przeworski and Sprague describe an electoral dilemma of social democratic parties: they need to attract middle-class voters without losing support in the shrinking working-class. With cultural issues (e.g. immigration) becoming more salient, this dilemma has intensified recently as the positions of both classes differ markedly on those issues. Against this background, we analyse the class base of social democratic parties in 13 Western European countries using data from the European Social Survey (2002–2018). Our exploratory study shows that in almost all countries support for social democrats has decreased across all classes. Yet, we still find significant differences in the social democrats' class bases. In Denmark, Sweden or Spain, social democrats still largely base their support on service and particularly production workers, while in France or Switzerland, these groups no longer primarily vote for social democrats. Here middle-class people, particularly socio-cultural professionals, are the strongest supporters of social democrats. Countries such as Germany or Norway exhibit no clear social democratic class base and gaining support from both groups at the same time seems to be most difficult. Only the British Labour Party succeeded to some extent in the balancing act of winning both middle- and working-class voters
Democracy · Development economics · Dilemma · Economics · Middle class · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Social class · Social Democratic Party · Sociology · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Populism, Right-Wing Movements · Social Policy and Reform Studies
What Class, What Vote? Post-Fordist Social Groups, Class Coalitions and the Mainstream Left
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The Changing Nature of Class Voting in Canada, 1965–2019
What Explains Country-Level Differences in Political Belief System Coherence
The education and income voting divides in Canada and their consequences for redistributive politics
The Transformation of European Social Democracy
Political Choice Matters
Political Conflict in Western Europe
Redrawing the Class Map
Status threat, not economic hardship, explains the 2016 presidential vote
Introduction
Historical Decline or Change of Scale?
Explaining working-class support for extreme right parties
Explaining Workers' Support for Right-Wing Populist Parties in Western Europe
Cleavage theory meets Europe’s crises
Electoral competition in Europe's new tripolar political space
Catchall or Catch and Release? The Electoral Consequences of Social Democratic Parties’ March to the Middle in Western Europe
Stronger core, weaker fringes
When Supply Creates Demand
The 2019 Swiss federal elections
The Electoral Appeal of Party Strategies in Postindustrial Societies
Paper Stones Revisited
The Brexit vote
Electoral fortunes of social democratic parties
Party strategies and the electoral trade‐off of class‐based parties
The transformation of cleavage politics
Public Attitudes Toward Immigration
Social Democracy and Rational Workers
What consideration sets can teach us about electoral competition
New Social Movements and the New Class in the Netherlands
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,25 |
| Citation span | 2022 - 2025 (4) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 5 |