European Journal of Political Research · 2005 · 308 citations · 19 references
Social SciencesPolitical ScienceSociologyComparative PoliticsPolitical BehaviorPolitical SociologyAgency StructureCoalition FormationParty PoliticsParty SystemsPolitical OrganizationPolitical PartiesCleavageCleavage FormationCleavage TheoryParty System Cleavage StructuresParty System ConsolidationPolitical CleavagesSocial Categories
The study analyzes Hungarian politics to show how parties embed in social, cognitive, and emotive structures and examines the role of agency in cleavage formation, emphasizing how parties shape their environments. The authors identify that, alongside conflict perception popularization and camp identity consolidation, the emergence of a more elaborate, segmented party organizational structure allows parties to forge coalitions among separate social groups and combine interests into packages sufficient to surpass institutional power thresholds. The study finds that parties can cross cleavage lines, restructure party‑system relations, and link preferences, socio‑structural categories, and attitudes, but deep‑seated socio‑cultural divides constrain agency even in new democracies. Abstract.
Abstract. Through the analysis of Hungarian politics, this article demonstrates how parties become embedded in the social, cognitive and emotive structures of societies. The role of agency in cleavage formation is addressed, with a special emphasis on the mechanism through which political parties structure their environments. Next to the popularization of conflict perceptions and the consolidation of camp identities, the development of a more elaborate and segmented organizational structure is identified as an integral part of the process of cleavage formation. Such a structure enables parties to forge coalitions among previously separate social groupings and combine group interests into packages large enough to overcome institutional thresholds of power. The findings indicate that parties are potentially able to cross cleavage lines, re‐structure relations within the party system and create new associations between party preferences, socio‐structural categories and attitudes. Furthermore, parties seem to be able to alter the relationships between psychologically rooted attitudes and social categories. The study also shows, however, that deep‐seated socio‐cultural divides limit the power of agency even in new democracies.
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