COMP POLI HOMEWORK NOTES PGS 40 53 Socioeconomic Cleavages Socioeconomic or class cleavages are social distinctions that reflect the stratification of society according to income and social position In more recent times in Western societies class differences have lessened Reasons why Economic boom since WW2 brought greater sharing of wealth and goods progressive income taxes education available to more people trade unions and industry has become more complex Thanks to embourgeousiement the middle class has grown and now includes what was formerly considered the working class Middle class today does not see itself as lacking advantages given to the rich and thus there is little social conflict Ethnic Cleavages People tend to vote for their own kind which causes the failure of multiparty elections in nations with deep ethnic divides Immigration leads to new ethnic cleavages Often conflict with immigrants exists because they compete for resources and sometimes to do not assimilate Political conflicts as a result of immigration incidents of racial violence against immigrants far Right extremist parties have used resentment against immigrants to gain supporters where immigrants have been around long enough to become citizens they become an important part of the electorate and immigrants tend to have suffered most from economic disruptions in the past thus they are often very discontented and sometimes display their grievances via demonstrations or violence Religious Cleavages Regional Cleavages Often intertwined with ethnicity Sometimes people display their political discontent by joining radical religious groups In western countries religion is not as often directly debated in politics but rather indirectly abortion education etc Differing political values and attitudes characterize people living in different geographic regions These regions compete for scarce government resources Often linked to the other cleavages If one region is given unfair support it may lead to civil unrest Often division between rural and urban areas especially important in developing nations Political Relevance of Social Cleavages Depth of it is affected by the extent of differences that are determined by a social cleavage The greater the deprivation or discrimination along the lines of social divisions the more likely it is that the cleavage will be politically relevant and dangerous Coinciding Lines of Cleavage occur when regional religious and class cleavages line up creating well defined sides These are especially dangerous Cross Cutting Lines of Cleavage divide society into many potential groups that may conflict on one issue but need to copperate on another This tends to keep social conflict to more moderate levels When the economy is better the different cleavages cause less problems as everyone does well Political and social leaders can change the general attitude of the people and escalate differences Can also be affected by international forces
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