Upload
alyson-sullivan
View
214
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Comparative Politics 1POL1010
Lecture 10
20th January 2005, 3-4pm
Western European Government: Germany and Spain
Administration
Next Lecture – Thursday 3rd February 2005
Bill Tupman
Territorial Politics lecture notes – POL1010 site
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 SYSTEMSNON-VOTING AND DISILLUSIONMENT
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
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.
Forces Behind Political Reform And The Move To Democracy II: Economic
FactorsArgument 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
Forces Behind Political Reform And The Move To Democracy III: Economic
FactorsIt 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.
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.
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
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)
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
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?
Patterns In Western European Politics: Elements Of Analysis VI
Political stability – if we were going to measure this we’d 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.
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
Patterns In Western European Politics: Elements Of Analysis VIII
LIPSET AND ROKKAN’S 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• ClassThese cleavages – do not matter universally across all WE
countries
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
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
Lipset and Rokkan’s 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.
Lipset and Rokkan’s 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
Lipset and Rokkan’s 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.
Lipset and Rokkan’s 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
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
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.
Western European Party Systems III: Realignment and Dealignment
However, since Lipset and Rokkan’s 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
Non-voting And DisillusionmentAcross 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
BibliographyDalton, 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.