Abstract
This chapter outlines the theoretical frameworks that have been employed to understand political competition in Europe. I explain how theorists have defined dimensions of political competition, starting with a critical evaluation of “left” and “right”. I go on to explore how scholars have recently proposed that politics in Europe is “two-dimensional”, defined by one economic left–right dimension and one cultural dimension. I also examine how these dimensions may be underpinned by social structure, identify the notion of societal cleavages proposed by Lipset and Rokkan (1967), and highlight recent work that suggests that globalisation may be forming the basis for a new cleavage. I finally explore how cleavage structures and political competition have evolved in Britain, pointing to the growing relevance of the cultural dimension of political competition and explaining how scholars of British politics have sought to explain recent changes in patterns of political competition.
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Notes
- 1.
In the Netherlands there were three separate parties representing distinct religious denominations: the Catholic People’s Party, representing Roman Catholics, as well as the Anti-Revolutionary Party and the Christian Historical Union representing the Dutch Protestants. These parties merged in 1977 to form the Christian Democratic Appeal.
- 2.
UK Parliament website, https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/private-lives/relationships/collections1/sexual-offences-act-1967/sexual-offences-act-1967, accessed 28 March 2018.
- 3.
See the LGBT Labour website, http://www.lgbtlabour.org.uk/history, accessed 28 March 2018.
- 4.
Labour ’s 1983 Manifesto, available at: http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/man/lab83.htm, accessed 28 March 2018.
- 5.
British Social Attitudes, “Homosexuality”, available at: http://www.bsa.natcen.ac.uk/latest-report/british-social-attitudes-30/personal-relationships/homosexuality.aspx, accessed 29 March 2018.
- 6.
Colin Clews, “1985. Lesbians and Gays Support the Miners. Part Two”. GAY in the 80s: From Fighting for Our Rights to Fighting for Our Lives. Available at: http://www.gayinthe80s.com/2012/09/1985-lesbians-and-gays-support-the-miners-part-two, accessed 29 March 2018.
- 7.
See, for example the 1987 Sunday Express cartoon by Cummings. Available at: Pink Singers: London’s LGBT Community Choir, “Section 28”. Available at: http://www.pinksingers.co.uk/singing-the-changes/section-28, accessed 29 March 2018.
- 8.
Sanders, Sue; Spraggs, Gill (1989). “Section 28 and Education”. Available at: http://www.schools-out.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Section-28-and-Education-Sue-Sanders-Gillian-Spragg-1989.pdf, accessed 29 March 2018.
- 9.
Tony Collins, “Labour 1983: The Most Inspiring Suicide Note in History”, Socialist Unity (23 March, 2013), available at: http://socialistunity.com/labour-1983-the-most-inspiring-suicide-note-in-history, accessed 4 April 2018.
- 10.
Indeed Margaret Thatcher herself famously espouses “Victorian values” in the 1983 election campaign (Samuel 1992).
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Wheatley, J. (2019). Beyond Left and Right: The End of an Old Order?. In: The Changing Shape of Politics. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03940-0_2
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