CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2023
| Author | Osler, Simon |
|---|---|
| Title | To What Extent Does Britain Retain Class Politics In National Elections And Ireland Not? |
| Summary | Great Britain has often been associated with having a strong class-based society and historically this has shaped voting behaviour. In contrast, its neighbour Ireland has had no class voting cleavages. This questions whether class-based voting behaviour can exist within an environment of a dominating national question? Analysis shows social class has become less influential in voter behaviour in Great Britain, while in Ireland more left parties have been elected to the Irish Parliament the Dáil Éireann and the shock rise of Sinn Fein as a third party from 2020 would suggest an emergence of class politics. While initial observations would suggest class dealignment and class alignment for the cases our analysis demonstrates that the situation is more complex than this. Both cases show a great level of voter volatility in recent election cycles and voters more prone to switching parties during elections. Such as the large Conservative win in 2019 and Sinn Fein receiving the most votes in 2020. While class-based voting is declining in Great Britain we still see evidence that it exists. What these two cases show is that the electoral volatility of voters in both countries, has obscured/eroded traditional voter patterns and cleavages thus, making predictions and analysing future elections in these cases much harder. |
| Supervisor | Enyedi, Zsolt |
| Department | Political Science MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2023/osler_simon.pdf |
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