Diversificacion y reconfiguracion de los sistemas de partidos de las democracies postindustriales

In: Revista española de ciencia política, Heft 10, S. 9-51

Abstract

Since the end of Second World War until now, traditional party systems have fallen or at least have suffered important changes. This change is described in this article, along with its causes & the way they have operated in order to change traditional party systems. Citizens' political preferences arose basically, although not exclusively, from citizens' insertion in the labor market, in their family & enterprises organizations. The industrialization process & the changes imposed by the development of welfare state has generated different trends & patterns which have influenced in the distribution of citizens' political preferences. At the macro level, distribution of citizens' political preferences has changed its dimension from distributive policies (lef-right) to the dimension of structure of sociocultural governance. These changes have influenced political parties' strategies. Parties are sensitive to citizens' preferences, as the decline of clientelism reflects and, consequently they adapt to the changes, always inside the frame of the possibilities that the social structure offers, its own party history, & the restrictive economic situation & crisis of current welfare states. As a result of these changes, party systems have become more complex & diversified, leaving to social movements & interest groups a wide range of action: all the issues & realms of electoral competition which cannot be interpreted within the space defined by the two dimensions of distribution that rule partidist competition. Tables, Graphs, References. Adapted from the source document.