- Peter Achterberg --- Professor of Sociology --

--- Alumni Event Tilburg University --- ---- 03/16/2017 ----

First things first….

Which party did you vote for yesterday?

https://www.menti.com/ec8bcf

The students’ results…

Poll by Universonline.nlNot in any way representative…

The alumni-poll

https://www.mentimeter.com/s/6a4885ac5e71866c2881e2539246abd3/168749253c56

Not in any way representative…

The Netherlands: A guide to the rest of the

world?

The Cinderella complex

Populism as antagonism

An ideology that considers society to be ultimately separated into two homogeneous and antagonistic

groups, ‘the pure people’ versus ‘the corrupt elite; , and which argues that

politics should be an expression of the volonté genérale of the people

(Mudde, 2004: 543)

What explains the rise of such populism?

Giovanni Sartori – Founding father of political sociology

Margareth Canovan – Explaining the rise of populism

Pippa Norris – Discovering the democratic deficit

The democratic deficit (ESS, 2014,

NL)

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Democratische aspiraties Vertrouwen politiek Kloof

Two types of consequences

Voting on the edge!Support radical democratization!

Populism as nativism

An ideology which holds that states should be inhabited by members of the native group and that nonnative elements (persons and ideas) are fundamentally threathening to the homogeneous nation state (Mudde, 2007: 19)

What explains the rise of such populism?

Ronald Inglehart – the rise of postmaterialism

Conflict in Dutch Communist Party

On the (New) Left: On the Right (Old Left):Ina Brouwer Marcus Bakker

What explains the rise of such populism?

Ronald Inglehart – the rise of postmaterialism

Ignazi – the silent counterrevolution

New-Rightist Politics Disturbs Regular Conservative Parties, Too…

Mark Rutte (left) Rita Verdonk (right)

What explains the rise of such populism?

Ronald Inglehart – the rise of postmaterialism

Ignazi – the silent counterrevolution

Houtman, Achterberg & Derks - Detraditionalization

Detraditionalization

Two types of consequences

Voting behavior

And in the wake of this: A structural realignment of politics

Etnocentrism

PROTECTIONISM

Cleavage Politics (Lipset, Rokkan, Kriesi)• Cleavage = more or less stable

relationship between social structure, political values, and political parties

• ‘Class cleavage’, i.e., ‘class politics’:

• The working class traditionally supports the leftist parties because its members favor economic redistribution, while the middle class votes for the rightist parties, because it rejects these policies

A decline in class politics?• Traditionally, class has been one of

the most important predictors for voting behavior (cf. Alford, 1967)

• This, however, has gradually but surely changed in the postwar period – –Working class increasingly votes right -

Middle class increasingly votes left (cf. Manza & Brooks, 1999; Nieuwbeerta 1995; Clark & Lipset 1991)

:

Nieuwbeerta, 1995

Manza & Brooks, 1999

Economic and cultural capital: Bourdieu, 1984

Cultural specialists

Economic specialists

Economic capital

Cultural capital

Ganzeboom, De Graaf en Kalm

ijn (1987)

A two-dimensional ideological space?• Based on surveys in all western

countries• …in the postwar period• …applicable for the general

public• (not so much for elites…)

Distinguishing Class Voting

from Cultural Voting

Class _ Economic Progressiveness

+

+ Leftist Voting

_

Cultural Capital _ Authoritarianism

A cultural realignment?• Findings:

– A strong economic position produces economic conservatism-driven rightist voting; a weak economic position produces economic progressiveness-driven leftist voting (=class voting)

– Cultural capital produces libertarianism-driven leftist voting; lack of cultural capital produces authoritarianism-driven rightist voting (=cultural voting)

A cultural realignment?• Findings:

– Voting for either old left or old right (VVD) constitutes class voting (economically driven: leftist-voting working class and rightist-voting middle class)

– Voting for either New Left or New Right constitutes cultural voting (culturally driven: rightist-voting working class and leftist-voting middle class!!!)

A cultural realignment?

“Class Is Not Dead – It Has Been Buried Alive” (Van der Waal et al., 2007)

Conclusions• Populism as antagonism

• Result of technocratic politics• Brings quest for democratization

• Populism as nativism• As a reaction against new leftist

movements of the 1960s• Brings a cultural realignment of politics

• Explains why we predicted the demise of the dutch Labour party in 2009