GPSP week 6 lecture 9 - maandag 27 december - André Krouwel
Political parties
Functions of political parties
Core:
- Recruitment and selection of elites: selection of persons and presenting them as
candidates for elections
Main:
- Political opinion-making: express public expectations and demands of social
groupings to the political system
- Aggregation: integration of various interests into a political project which they
transform into a political programme, for which they campaign to receive support of a
majority
- Socialisation and mobilisation: creating of links between citizens and the political
system so they participate
- Governing (and opposition): Organisation of government and it’s opposing alternative
- Legitimisation: contribution by anchoring the political order in the consciousness of
the citizens. Parties are working at the input level, so they legitimise the needs of the
voters
Revolutions and cleavages
Important historical points of reference/breaks that created particism.
- Reformation (1648): end of the religious conflicts → peripheries vs. centre
- French Revolution: church or state deciding on the curriculum of the country →
secular state vs. church – bvb: als mensen gingen scheiden was het een probleem
voor kapitalisme want wie werd eigenaar van wat?
- Christian-democratic and liberal parties emerged from this
- Industrial Revolution: transformation of mass production, moving from rural to urban
areas and massive shifts in wealth → rural/agricultural vs. industrial AND workers
vs. owners → Class cleavage
- Socialist, communist and social-democratic parties emerged from this
Social cleavages
In the beginning there was already a deep rift between liberals (left) and conservatives
(right). They had a monopoly of representation. Socialists and agrarian parties emerged later
because of the impact of the other revolutions and modern capitalist productions.
Shifting political landscapes
Where a party stands on the left-right scale depends on the time.
- If you were a liberal in the late 19th century you were deemed “left-progressive”
because you wanted the separation of church and state and they wanted universal
voting rights (also for women).
- The cleavages constantly change of substance and meaning and that is because
new issues are emerging and the political parties absorb these issues and take a
stand.
Political parties
Functions of political parties
Core:
- Recruitment and selection of elites: selection of persons and presenting them as
candidates for elections
Main:
- Political opinion-making: express public expectations and demands of social
groupings to the political system
- Aggregation: integration of various interests into a political project which they
transform into a political programme, for which they campaign to receive support of a
majority
- Socialisation and mobilisation: creating of links between citizens and the political
system so they participate
- Governing (and opposition): Organisation of government and it’s opposing alternative
- Legitimisation: contribution by anchoring the political order in the consciousness of
the citizens. Parties are working at the input level, so they legitimise the needs of the
voters
Revolutions and cleavages
Important historical points of reference/breaks that created particism.
- Reformation (1648): end of the religious conflicts → peripheries vs. centre
- French Revolution: church or state deciding on the curriculum of the country →
secular state vs. church – bvb: als mensen gingen scheiden was het een probleem
voor kapitalisme want wie werd eigenaar van wat?
- Christian-democratic and liberal parties emerged from this
- Industrial Revolution: transformation of mass production, moving from rural to urban
areas and massive shifts in wealth → rural/agricultural vs. industrial AND workers
vs. owners → Class cleavage
- Socialist, communist and social-democratic parties emerged from this
Social cleavages
In the beginning there was already a deep rift between liberals (left) and conservatives
(right). They had a monopoly of representation. Socialists and agrarian parties emerged later
because of the impact of the other revolutions and modern capitalist productions.
Shifting political landscapes
Where a party stands on the left-right scale depends on the time.
- If you were a liberal in the late 19th century you were deemed “left-progressive”
because you wanted the separation of church and state and they wanted universal
voting rights (also for women).
- The cleavages constantly change of substance and meaning and that is because
new issues are emerging and the political parties absorb these issues and take a
stand.
