The evolution of cleavage voting in four Western countries: Structural, behavioural or political dealignment?

ABSTRACT: Since the heyday of cleavage voting in the 1960s and 1970s, the majority of studies presents evidence of a decline in cleavage voting - caused by either structural or behavioural dealignment. Structural dealignment denotes changes in group size responsible for a decrease in cleavage voting, whereas behavioural dealignment concerns weakening party-voter links over time. A third phenomenon posited in this article is the collective voting abstention of certain (social) groups, here referred to as 'political dealignment', which results in a new type of division of voting versus abstention. The purpose of this article is to examine the three underlying mechanisms for the decline in social class and religious cleavage voting across four Western countries (Great Britain, the Netherlands, Switzerl

SUBMITTER: Goldberg AC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7003807 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature