party families division of all W European countries based on ideological similarities functions of political parties nominate candidates for public office mobilize voters to participate in elections how many people do parties want to mobilize catch all parties as many as possible programs and candidates appeal to the broadest range of voters labor party and conservative party in UK christian democrats and social democrats in germany single issue small segment of voters parties whose programs are restricted to a single or very narrow set of issues Germany Alternative for Germany anti Euro Netherlands Party for Animals parties for legalization of cannabis in Spain France UK etc Green parties across Europe environment party membership membership in political parties has declined dealignment decoupling declining attachment of individuals to political parties general mistrust of political parties political cleavages social class lower class middle class upper class group of people with similar social status economic and political power voters from working class and lower middle class support wstrong welfare state as a safety net for individuals support for government intervention in economy voters of middle class and upper class want market not gov t to satisfy for needs of individuals religion vs secularism secularism citizens who don t attend religious ceremonies don t want religious interference in social and political questions religion citizens who attend religious ceremonies regularly traditional values cosmpolitanism vs nationalism member of different social classes have different expectations about government market relations cosmopolitanism degree to which a person sees herself as part of a wider community outside her own country nationalism priority on the interests of their own country party families ideological family group of parties from across Europe with similar ideological positions similar positions on main political cleavages parties of the left social democrats main and oldest family on left ex marxists who accept role of free market strong support for welfare state progressive social values cosmopolitan many have shifted to market friendly policies communists radical left ex supporters of soviet union anti system parties cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 have become coalition partners in Germany Finland Sweden Belgium etc wanted to overturn liberal democracy and capitalism nationalization of industry in decline since 1991 strong communist parties in western europe italy france greece greens emerged in 1970s focus on green issues environment nuclear power global warming water pollution etc post materialist values c 5 10 vote parties of the center liberal parties not the modern version more classical progressive values traditionally secular and pro civil rights pro market victims of own success lost votes to mass social democratic parties Free Democrats in Germany Liberal Democrats in UK D66 in Netherlands parties of the right Christian Democrats often in government coalitions with Social Democrats or Christian Democrats used to support dominant Christian denominations Catholic Protestant Lutheran now mostly secular support welfare state but less so than Social Democrats support traditional values Socially conservative conservatives secular right traditional values emphasis on nationalism over cosmopolitanism big free market supporters oppose welfare state UK Conservative Party French Union for Popular Movement UMP radical right usually an ultra nationalist or anti immigrant agenda National Front in France Danish People s Party Golden Dawn in Greece Ponce and Scarrow sources of funding for political parties government support main source of financing for political parties in western europe reasons electoral expenses increase membership dues decreases government funding fills gap how can parties increase their fundraising membership dues donations fundraising partisanship or tax incentives what causes people to give donations and what can parties do to increase this cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 finding partisanship matters tax incentives do not Jansen de Graaf and Need article Main question what explains the decline of religious voting in the Netherlands The importance of religious beliefs as a motive to vote is decreasing Implication social pillars become less politically relevant pillars distinct religious or secular segments of Dutch society catholic pillar protestant pillar Calvinist pillar liberal secular pillar pillarization of society the division of a society into social pillars Two potential explanations for decline of religious voting for the Netherlands First is Bottom up explanation increased secularization Fewer religious voters and more secular voters Religion doesn t matter to more people now Not important for them when they go to vote More secular voters means decreased role of religion voting Citizens views change new political parties are less appealing to religious voters the options they have aren t good enough for them the options that are available for parties have changed lack of interest among voters Religiosity trends Declining church membership and attendance Secularism on the rise Top down change in party competition beliefs of the people have not changed number of religious voters remains the same They do historical overview of the party system of the Netherlands There have been some profound changes in the Netherlands party system since the 1970 s 1977 Christian democratic appeal is established which is a merger of main catholic and two protestant parties 2002 Christian