Kriesi 2010: Restructuration of Partisan Politics and the Emergence of a New Cleavage Based on Values

Kriesi, H. (2010). Restructuration of partisan politics and the emergence of a new cleavage based on values. West European Politics, 33(3), 673-685.

in a nutshell
The author revises his earlier claim of a new structurally rooted cleavage: The new cultural libertarian-authoritarian divide is rooted in values which are only partially a product of structural characteristics. (Post-)Modernizaton has led to individualization of life styles (according to individual preferences), and thus people are no longer locked into social groups (resulting from structural position such as occupation, religion, place of residence). Because they self-select into groups of like-minded people, and these groups then homogenize further (incl. internet bubbles), stable political preferences evolve for such societal subgroups.

questions and critique
But are these groups (which constitute the new cleavage) sufficiently politicized? Do people talk about politics at all? (techno party visitors)

Are the issues disconnected from each other (dog owners only agree on public parks, reggae lovers only on legalization of pot - or also on same-sex marriage and euthanasia?), or do they form ideologies?

age, gender, family, residence(?) still strongly determine social groups