Suchergebnisse

AMONG THE TOOLS USED TO STUDY SOCIAL, AND MORE PARTICULARLY political phenomena, the part played by public opinion surveys continues to grow, in spite of the tentativeness of some and the blunders of others. The study of the process of European integration and, more generally, of every process of regional integration has not escaped this. Indeed, it can be asked whether the most decisive progress in the theory of European integration has not been brought about by the very close co-operation between political scientists and the opinion poll experts Carrying out the intention which was expressed in this journal in 1967, the Press and Information Services of the Commission of the European Communities have tried, in the last two years, to promote a study in depths of the attitude towards the Common Market and the unification of Europe in the six founder countries.

Parallel with the efforts which have been made during the last fifteen or twenty years to build, in Churchill's words (1946) 'a kind of United States of Europe', much research has been undertaken to try to find out whether public opinion had followed the movement, or perhaps even anticipated it.I do not intend to recapitulate here in detail all these works, but merely to underline some of the problems which they raise, for the researchers as well as for the men of action and above all for those who, perhaps over-ambitiously, try to reconcile the concerns of the former with those of the latter.

Throughout this century, the Marxist Left in Europe has emphasized an economic interpretation of history, with state ownership of the means of production as the key element in their prescription for society. Political polarization is depicted as a direct reflection of social class conflict, with the working class the natural base of support for the Left. This diagnosis has become increasingly out of touch with reality in recent years, which have seen the decline of orthodox Marxist parties in Western Europe and the diminishing credibility of the ideology on which they are based. For as advanced industrial society emerges, economic determinism provides a progressively less adequate analysis of society, and class-based parties and the policies they advocate become less central to politics. Economic development reduces the impact of economic determinism. Though economic factors tend to play a dominant role in the early stages of industrial society, in advanced industrial society their relative importance diminishes; and self-expression, 'belonging' and the quality of the physical and social environment become increasingly important.

Factors contributing to the recent decline of orthodox Marxist parties in Western Europe and the diminishing credibility of the ideology on which they are based. Structure of the work force; goals of individuals; types of issues most central to political polarization; social bases of support for given types of political parties.