Back from the dead: The continuing influence of social class on political behaviour in Western democracies

‘The class war is over’ (Tony Blair, PM UK, 1997) – but is it? Across Western countries, research has shown a clear decline in the previously strong relationship between voters’ social class positions (i.e., their occupation-based position in the social stratification) and their party choice. The old pattern of working class voters preferring left-wing parties and middle and upper middle class voters preferring right-wing parties has weakened to the point of almost disappearing. Along with developments towards an individualized, so-called post-modern society, this has led researchers to proclaim a ‘death of class’ in social as well as political terms. However, sociological research continues to document stark differences in the social conditions under which members of different classes live. As such, class is certainly alive in the objective social world. But what about in the subjective world, i.e. in citizens’ perceptions of society, their social identities and social group sympathies? Do Western citizens perceive social classes? If they do, then what do classes mean to them, i.e., what is it in their minds? Do they identify with classes? Do they perhaps have some form of class consciousness including evaluations of other classes? And do any such identities and consciousnesses have political relevance, not least for party choice? Through a series of studies of citizens’ perceptions of what social classes are and the relationship between their class identities and sympathies and party choice the book provides evidence that despite the weakened relevance of objective class, class is alive in citizens’ minds both as an aspect of society and as basis for social identities. Furthermore, class-based identities and citizens’ subjective perceptions of class influence their electoral choices to a substantial degree. Class is, therefore, also alive in electoral terms in current Western democracies.