New politics and changing parties : a comparative perspective

http://home.hiroshima-u.ac.jp/heiwa/JNL/25/HOFFMANN.pdfThis article illustrates a new style of politics, the New Political Culture (NPC), which<br />began in many countries in the 1970s. It has become dominant in some locations. It<br />defines new rules of the game for politics, challenging two older traditions: class<br />politics and clientelism. Advocates of the New Political Culture include Bill Clinton,<br />Tony Blair, and Francois Mitterrand. They revolutionized the politics of their countries<br />by embracing NPC issues. These include citizen democracy, environmentalism, gay<br />rights, and abortion—generally consumption and lifestyle issues, with less emphasis on<br />workplace and jobs than in the past. Leadership comes less from parties, unions, and<br />ethnic groups in coalitions of rich versus poor, or high- versus low-status persons.<br />Rather, leadership shifts from issue to issue; leaders on abortion are distinct from<br />leaders on environmental issues. Issue-specific leaders are thus more active, as are<br />citizens and the media. This NPC emerges more fully and forcefully in cities and<br />countries with more highly educated citizens, higher incomes, and high-tech service<br />occupations.<br />Political parties critically constrain elected officials who take positions and act. We<br />present here the most comprehensive synthesis to date of past research on local party<br />structures around the world including Japan, US, Canada, France, Finland, Norway,<br />Australia, and Israel. We documents major differences in party penetration of<br />government: minimal in Australia and Canada, deep in France and Italy. Parties also<br />substantially vary in their openness to citizens and organized groups—of business labor,<br />and others, as well as to new social movements concerning ecology and women. Parties<br />founded on traditional class cleavages and unions, or clientelism and patronage by<br />padrone, resist NPC developments—which can drive citizens to alienation, to protest, or<br />to embrace new parties or organized groups