Comparative Politics 1 POL1010

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Comparative Politics 1POL1010

• Lecture 10
• 20th January 2005, 3-4pm
• Western European Government Germany and Spain

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Administration

• Next Lecture Thursday 3rd February 2005
• Bill Tupman
• Territorial Politics lecture notes POL1010 site

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Lecture Plan

• CHANGING CONTEXT IN WESTERN EUROPE
• FORCES BEHIND POLITICAL REFORM AND THE MOVE TO
  DEMOCRACY ECONOMIC FACTORS
• PATTERNS IN WESTERN EUROPEAN POLITICS ELEMENTS
  OF ANALYSIS
• WESTERN EUROPEAN PARTY SYSTEMS
• NON-VOTING AND DISILLUSIONMENT

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Changing Context In Western Europe

• Western European political systems liberal
  democratic
• The development of these three-fold
• history of constitution-making
• transfers of power to monarchs or dictators or
  aristocrats to the masses
• by restrictions being made on absolutist rule
• NB not a linear progression to liberal
  democracy and each country has its own individual
  story

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Forces Behind Political Reform And The Move To
Democracy I Economic Factors

• These changes across WE countries and the embrace
  of liberal democracy underpinned by economic
  and social changes
• This relationship between the economic and
  political one which is much studied by
  political scientists
• It is often characterised as a chicken-egg
  relationship which stimulates which? We know
  that they are inter-related but how?
• Rueschemeyer, Stephens and Stephens (1992)
  capitalism must come first if democracy is going
  to flourish.

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Forces Behind Political Reform And The Move To
Democracy II Economic Factors

• Argument is economic liberalisation creates a
  middle class which demanded a role in the
  political process and had the wealth to be able
  to carry out that role
• In WE the rise of liberal democracy through
  these three channels happened in the same
  temporal frame as the industrial revolutions in
  each particular country
• The economic is necessary for the political
  economic change stimulated political development

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Forces Behind Political Reform And The Move To
Democracy III Economic Factors

• It is important to see economic development and
  capitalism as necessary rather than sufficient
  factor.
• We should not fall into the trap of economic
  determinism.
• Other economic, social and cultural factors were
  important in politicising the population
• growth of education, (and spread of literacy)
• mass communication
• transportation systems
• All of these further politicised the population
  able to read political literature and so join
  debate, political actors able to get around the
  country and discuss political issues with people
  etc.

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Patterns In Western European Politics Elements
Of Analysis I

• There are various variables which we can examine
  if we are to compare the democracies of Western
  Europe
• Size of territory
• Location of countries
• Boundaries of countries
• States wealth and resources
• Constitutional basis
• Political culture / style of regime
• Political stability and political cleavages
• Source Roberts and Hogwood, 1996 17.

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Patterns In Western European Politics Elements
Of Analysis II

• Element 1 Constitutional Features
• Germany is a Republic based on the Basic Law of
  1949
• State structure federation of 16 Länder, each
  of these regions or states has its own
  constitution, legislature and government.
• Federal PM elected by an absolute majority of the
  parliament Bundestag.
• Executive Bundestag (federal power)
• Federal Council Bundesrat reps of the Länder
• Spain is a Constitutional Monarchy constitution
  was adopted in 1978 (preceded by a dictatorship)
• State structure unitary, but there is
  considerable devolution of executive and
  administrative powers to 17 elected regional
  assemblies
• Parliament is bicameral 350 member Congress of
  Deputies and an upper chamber the Senate

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Patterns In Western European Politics Elements
Of Analysis III

• Element 2 Political Culture / Style Of Regime
• The most common distinction made in this regard
  is between Proportional Representation (PR) and
  First-Past-the-Post (FPP).
• Both Germany and Spain operate list types of PR
  where in both cases these lists are closed ones
  parties decide which candidates are to
  represent if selected.
• Across WE most countries have some form of PR
  system most of you will be familiar with the
  various PR systems. There are two high profile
  exceptions to this Britain (FPP) and France
  (FPP double ballot method)

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Patterns In Western European Politics Elements
Of Analysis IV

• Consequences Of The Electoral System
• The type of electoral system a country has
  important in 3 main ways. It has consequences
  for
• proportionality
• the number of parties in parliament
• types of governments returned majority or
  coalitions

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Patterns In Western European Politics Elements
Of Analysis V

• Element 3 Political Stability And Cleavages
• As liberal democracies aim is for social and
  political pluralism ensure open access
• However, the principle of pluralism if
  political and social differences are allowed to
  be aired this can lead to divided communities and
  social instability
• So if WE countries are to uphold this principle
  of pluralism then how can this freedom is
  properly channelled and the fragmentation be
  avoided?

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Patterns In Western European Politics Elements
Of Analysis VI

• Political stability if we were going to measure
  this wed look at whether or not the political
  systems in WE had persisted?
• If we look at the time period from World War 1
• France as you learned last week had had three
  republics and a period of occupation
• Germany two republics and the 3rd Reich and
  post-war occupation from the allies
• Italy, Spain, Austria, Greece all had several
  regimes since WW1
• Regime stability more prevalent in the Northern
  democratic countries UK, Ireland, etc.

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Patterns In Western European Politics Elements
Of Analysis VII

• Political conflict and the way in which it is
  mediated central to the style and culture which
  prevails in a political system
• shared attitudes
• Stability and the idea of shared attitudes
  relates to the pattern of fundamental political
  cleavages which exist in a society these
  include divisions of social class, religion,
  language, region, urban/rural location

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Patterns In Western European Politics Elements
Of Analysis VIII

• LIPSET AND ROKKANS CLEAVAGE THESIS (1967)
• The term cleavages in political science refers
  to social divisions which are deep enough to form
  the basis of collective identities and so give
  rise to organisations which will promote and
  protect whatever the interests in question are.
• Three most salient cleavages for WE countries and
  are revealed in the most common interest groups
  and political parties
• Region
• Religion
• Class
• These cleavages do not matter universally
  across all WE countries

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Patterns In Western European Politics Elements
Of Analysis IX

• In some countries some matter more than others
  reason for this is provided by Lipset and Rokkan
  (1967) the timing of the extension of voting
  rights to mass publics was crucial for the
  consolidation of political cleavages between
  sections of WE populations
• Two things determined which were the most salient
  of cleavages at the time of mass enfranchisement
• the consolidation of state authority
• the timing of industrialisation

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Patterns In Western European Politics Elements
Of Analysis X

• Lipset and Rokkan (1967) identify four dominant
  cleavages
• 1. centre-periphery
• 2. church-state
• 3. urban-rural
• 4. class

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Lipset and Rokkans Cleavage Thesis I (1967)

• Centre-periphery cleavage
• This cleavage clash of cultures between those
  at the centre and those in local communities at
  the periphery.
• In Spain for example groups such as the Basques
  and the Catalans fought to preserve their
  language and culture from the Castilian state
• Temporary resolution to centre-periphery disputes
  centralising unitary structures, e.g. Britain
  and France or building federal systems Germany
  and Switzerland for example this latter ensures
  that a measure of autonomy in relation to
  periphery is kept.

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Lipset and Rokkans Cleavage Thesis II (1967)

• Church-state cleavage
• This cleavage result of the states attempts to
  consolidate its position which brought many WE
  states into conflict with the church.
• France in particular the struggle was intense
  here the centralising state aimed to make an
  explicitly secular society
• In Germany divide fell between Protestant and
  Catholic but federal system means that this is
  less conflictual than in France

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Lipset and Rokkans Cleavage Thesis III (1967)

• Urban-rural cleavage
• The cleavage between the interests of urban and
  rural populations were evident from medieval
  times onwards in contemporary WE this cleavage
  is less evident, post WW2 greater standardisation
  of public services.
• This standardisation conflict between urban and
  rural areas is less significant often only
  played out over single issues.

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Lipset and Rokkans Cleavage Thesis IV (1967)

• Class cleavage
• Class conflict developed in every country of WE
  a result of the industrial revolution
• Historically the Northern European countries have
  resisted the demands of the working class at the
  time of the industrial revolution although did
  not tend to actively repression this group
• However, in Germany, Austria, Italy and Spain
  established classes took repressive action
  against the working classes result of which was
  that socialist parties became uncompromising in
  the approach and over questions of ideology

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Western European Party Systems I Kitschelt

• As a result of the different cleavages which
  dominate WE have a set of different types of
  Party Systems across Europe (Kitschelt, 1997)
• unidimensional left-right divisions
• class and religion
• multidimensionality

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Western European Party Systems II Freezing of
Party Systems

• Lipset and Rokkan (1967) see the four cleavages
  in WE party systems still now what they refer
  to as a freezing of the systems
• These cleavages have frozen the systems as a
  result of 4 main reasons
• 1. where the interests that encapsulate these
  cleavages remain relevant and organised in group
  form thus retaining a sense of collective
  identity
• 2. no new or rival political identities have been
  mobilised to depose those which have come out of
  existing cleavages
• 3. related to this the rules of the game favour
  existing power bases and parties frustrating
  efforts of new political forces
• 4. parties work to isolate their voters from
  other parties.

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Western European Party Systems III Realignment
and Dealignment

• However, since Lipset and Rokkans work 1960s
  rival theses have sprung up, arguing that a forms
  of realignment (Inglehart, 1997, 1984) and
  dealignment (Dalton, 1984) had occurred middle
  classes expressing different preferences that
  those represented by the 4 cleavages
• This is associated with the rise of
• Green movement
• Feminism
• New left politics

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Non-voting And Disillusionment

• Across WE voting is on the decline leading
  Flickinger and Studlar to refer to disappearing
  voters (1992) across WE
• For example, 1972 in Germany voter turnout stood
  at 90 and in 1994 this had fallen to 78
• Parties increasingly seen as obsolete
• In Spain for example, the Spanish Socialist party
  engaged in organising a mass exercise in
  political debate between 1987-1990 to draw up a
  new programme in partnership / consultation with
  the people

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Bibliography

• Dalton, R.J. (1984) Cognitive Mobilization and
  Partisan Dealignment in Advanced Industrial
  Democracies in Journal of Politics 46 2,
  264-282.
• Flickinger, R.S. and Studlar, D.T. (1992) The
  Disappearing Voters? Declining Turnout in Western
  European Elections in West European Politics 15
  2, 1-16.
• Inglehart, R. (1977) The Silent Revolution
  Princeton University Press.
• Kitschelt, H. (1997) European Party Systems in
  Developments in West European Politics Rhodes,
  M., Heywood, P. and Wright, V. (eds) Macmillan.
• Lipset, S.M. and Rokkan, S. (eds) (1967) Party
  Systems and Voter Alignments New York, NY Free
  Press.
• Roberts, G. and Hogwood, P. (1997) European
  Politics Today Manchester Manchester University
  Press.
• Reuschemeyer, D. Stephens, E. and Stephens, J.D.
  (1992) Capitalist Development and Democracy
  Chicago, IL University of Chicago Press.
• Urwin, D. (1989) Western Europe since 1945
  London Longman.