The Effects of Ruralism, Bureaucratic Structure, and Economic Role on Right-Wing Extremism

In: Canadian journal of political science: CJPS = Revue canadienne de science politique, Band 7, Heft 1, S. 155-165

Abstract

In discussion of the social structure of modern capitalist societies the distinction between the "old" and "new" middle class is common. The old middle class is epitomized by the small businessman and the new middle class by the bureaucratic manager and employee. It has been postulated that the political sentiments and attitudes are different among these two subsets of the middle class. Specifically, it is hypothesized that the old middle class in a mature industrial and capitalistic system is especially vulnerable to right-wing extremism. It is the purpose of this paper to report research testing the above general hypothesis by using three factors of explanation.