A Worldview Evolution in West European Politics

This chapter develops the worldview evolution argument that is tested in this book. West European societies have experienced major economic and socio-cultural changes in the past several decades, with the rise of the post-industrial economy, deepening and widening of European integration, and growing multiculturalism and values liberalism. As a result, older political divisions centred on class and religion have given way to new conflicts over national community and identity. Authoritarianism is the key to understanding this evolution of voting behaviour. The changes of the past several decades have generated perceptions of threat to social cohesion among high authoritarians, who have responded by moving towards populist radical right (PRR) parties that promise to fight those threats. Low authoritarians welcome these changes because they perceive them as enhancing individual autonomy and diversity, so they move towards parties that support them. The result is an emerging political conflict organized around rival worldviews: high authoritarians support parties committed to preserving social cohesion and national community, while low authoritarians support parties committed to enhancing individual autonomy and diversity. Because established parties had organized around earlier class and religious divisions, they struggle to maintain voter support in this new era as newer left-liberal and radical right parties gain at their expense. The chapter concludes by describing hypotheses about the evolving relationship between authoritarianism and public support for the EU and voting behaviour, respectively.

A Worldview Evolution?

The concluding chapter revisits the main arguments and findings of each chapter before turning to a discussion of their implications for our understanding of West European politics. The first implication is that the worldview evolution described in this book is rooted in political psychology rather than group interests or identity. Second, the worldview evolution occurring in Western Europe bears similarities to developments in the USA and other advanced democracies. Though the differences in context mediate how this evolution develops in each part of the world, similar divisions over social cohesion and community are at their heart. Finally, this book’s findings suggest that issues relating to social cohesion and diversity will remain contentious in the coming years. By contrast, economic and class issues may evolve to reflect the new structure of party conflict. Finding common ground across these worldviews will be a core challenge of West European democratic politics in the coming years.

West European Politics in Turmoil?

This chapter introduces the puzzle and motivation for the book. Rising support for populist radical right parties in Western Europe and increasing polarization over European integration represent a change from the politics of the 1990s. Radical right parties or candidates have achieved new levels of electoral support in many West European countries. At the same time, though, mainstream values have become increasingly liberal. Thus, recent years have not simply seen a resurgence of right-wing nationalism in Western Europe; they have seen greater polarization concerning issues of national identity and community. In short, West European electoral politics is evolving from conflict based around cleavages such as class to a new dimension of conflict centring on questions of identity, culture, and the demarcation of national boundaries. This chapter reviews existing accounts of this electoral evolution before providing an overview of this book’s arguments and findings.

The venturous bid for the independence of Catalonia

Following an ambiguous constitutional compromise for democratization, the territorial decentralization of the Spanish state developed by means of political party competition, exchanges, and bargaining. Hence, the so-calledstate of autonomieswas characterized as “non-institutional federalism” [Colomer, Josep M. 1998. “The Spanish ‘State of Autonomies': Non-institutional Federalism.”West European Politics21 (4): 40–52]. In the most recent period, competition and instability have intensified. New developments include, on one side, attempts at recentralizating the state and, on the other side, demands and mobilizations forCatexit, that is, the independence of Catalonia from Spain, which resulted in sustained inter-territorial conflict. This article addresses these recent changes with a focus on the relations between the Spanish and the Catalan governments. The political changes were analyzed as a result of opportunities and incentives offered by a loose institutional framework and the subsequent competitive strategies of extreme party leaders.

A hot topic? Immigration on the agenda in Western Europe

The party politics of immigration is one of the fastest growing bodies of research within the study of West European politics. Within this literature, an underlying assumption is that immigration has become one of the most salient issues. However, this is rarely documented, let alone explained. Drawing on a new coding of party manifestos in seven West European countries, this article shows that party attention to immigration has grown in all countries since 1980 but only in Denmark has the issue become one of the most salient issues of party politics. We find that the general increase in attention reflects the rising number of immigrants and rise of radical right-wing parties. In terms of the issue becoming a top issue of party politics, a comparative analysis of the politicization of immigration in Denmark and the Netherlands shows that the interest of mainstream right-wing parties and coalition dynamics are the crucial factors.

The Revolution Will Not Be Historicised

This chapter examines Kropotkin's theory of revolution. It argues that his understanding of revolution was consistent and explores this by looking at his essay The Spirit of Revolt. The chapter shows how the ideas expressed here underpinned Kropotkin's approach to political violence and his efforts to build a mass movement. Kropotkin continually reviewed the prospects for revolution and his judgment balanced the rise of militant labour activism against the influence of social democracy, the fracturing of the Second International and the pull of jingoism. Kropotkin remained committed to revolutionary transformation but became concerned that the urban proletariat was becoming increasingly divorced from rural labour struggles and locked into the logic of inter-state competition. This analysis of West European politics explained his decision to support the Entente in 1914, his calls for Russia to continue with war after the revolution and his rejection of Bolshevism.

Re-emerging Christianity in West European Politics: The Case of the Netherlands

Does Christianity re-emerge in politics even in the most secularized part of the world, Western Europe? In this article, the exemplary case of the Netherlands provides empirical evidence for two mechanisms of resurgent Christianity in party politics. In this way, the article also offers a more precise understanding under what conditions various dimensions of religion become (again) or remain politically significant. The first mechanism has been the incentive of secularization and secularism for remaining Christians to regroup in a so-called creative minority to convey an explicitly faith-based message to a broader public. Modernization has therefore not automatically meant less religion in politics. However, creative minorities remained a relatively minor affair in Dutch party politics, despite the large number of Christian migrants and their descendants. Second, Christian and culturally rightwing, secular parties have increasingly referred to a Judeo-Christian culture to mark the political identities of the European Union and its nations in response to Islam's growing visibility. The concept of Judeo-Christian culture foremost functioned as a sacred word to denote the liberal and secular order of the West, reflecting the re-emergence of Christianity as cultural phenomenon rather than faith in West European politics.