Suchergebnisse

Intro -- Praise for Underprivileged Voters and Electoral Exclusion in Contemporary Europe -- Contents -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- 1 Introduction -- References -- 2 Voter Turnout and Imperfect Inclusivity: A Democratic Problem -- Democracy and Representation: The Theoretical Debate -- The Management of Participation in the Age of Mass Parties -- After the Golden Age: Streamlined Parties and New Inequalities -- The Voters We Have Lost in a Global World -- References -- 3 Turnout and Socio-economic Inequality at the Individual Level -- The Resource Theory of Political Participation and Beyond -- Unbundling Socio-economic Status -- Unemployment, Insecurity and Turnout -- Who Feels Underprivileged? Subjective Status Inconsistency and Relative Deprivation -- References -- 4 The Institutional Determinants of Turnout Inequalities -- Excluded by Law: Non-eligible Voters as Neglected Categories -- The Impact of Political Institutions and the Nature of Elections -- Socio-economic Considerations and the Turnout Gap -- Welfare State Systems and Cultural Norms as Barriers to Voting -- The Enduring Effect of Political Mobilisation -- References -- 5 Voting in Times of Crisis: From Opting Out to Regaining a Voice -- The Political Consequences of the Economic Downturn -- The Rise of Populism and the Claim of Representing the Poor -- Economic Adversity, Populist Supply and Turnout: An Uncertain Relationship -- References -- 6 Conclusion -- References -- Appendix -- Index.

Chapter 1. Introduction -- Chapter 2. Voter turnout and imperfect inclusivity: a democratic problem -- Chapter 3. Turnout and socio-economic inequality at the individual level -- Chapter 4. The institutional determinants of turnout inequalities -- Chapter 5. Voting in times of crisis. From opting out to regaining a voice.

This volume investigates the reasons behind contemporary participatory inequality, the form and dimensions it assumes in relation to the institutional constraints that regulate access to the electoral arena and socio-cultural transformations which have altered both the class structures and the territorial basis of voting. At the same time, it analyses the effects that the intensification of these processes risk to produce, if uncontrolled, on the stability of the democratic system and on the individual life of voters, deprived of institutional representation and left with the alternatives of protest (channelled by existing parties or elements outside the party system) or detachment from politics. Dario Tuorto is Associate Professor in Sociology at the Department of Education, University of Bologna, Italy.

In recent years, academic literature has stressed the declining importance of social class and religion as determinants of vote. In particular, many scholars have found that the working-class vote is no longer mostly addressed to socialist parties, whereas religious people still massively support confessional and conservative parties. This article explores the actual resilience of the two cleavages with particular attention to the relationship between religion and socialist parties. Our analysis, based on European Social Survey (ESS) data covering 13 West European countries in the period 2002–2014, proves that 'a-religiosity' – negative attitudes towards religion – has overcome social class as the determinant of a socialist vote, thanks to the emergence of a divisive ethical–moral agenda. This process is more visible in those countries where the Church and religious associations play an active role in the political arena and the ethical–moral issues have been politicized, as in Catholic and multi-faith countries.

The success of the Italian party Five Star Movement (M5S) has been broadly attributed to its ability to occupy the space of radical protest against "old politics". Due to the party's criticism, its charismatic leadership, and its aggressive electoral campaigns, the M5S has been labeled as a populist. The unexpected result of 2013 election raises crucial theoretical questions: To what extent does the M5S electorate reflect the characteristics of a protest vote? To what extent was it also a vote driven by values, by individual evaluations on a specific political issue? The first part of the article aims to investigate the extent of negative political feelings among M5S' voters. To disentangle the meaning and impact of protest, we distinguish two dimensions: the "system discontent" and the "élite discontent," referring to both general and focalized images, sentiments toward and the representation of political institutions, voter power, and government performances. In the second part, we bring to the analysis a further explanation based on the theory of issue voting. The goal is to measure whether voters have chosen M5S purely because of their political resentment or also given that they shared a similar position on a number of crucial policies emphasized in the electoral campaign.