Elite Strategy, Social Cleavages, and Party Systems in a New Democracy

Abstract

Electoral studies of the Spanish party system have consistently noticed that social class has no influence on the vote. This paper will argue that social class has emerged as influential in determining the vote between the two major parties—the PSOE and PP. The development of these links between social class and political parties resulted from the strategic programmatic choice made by the political elites of both major parties since 1989 and the policy adopted by the governing PSOE. Evidence for this argument will be drawn from a very large Spanish survey conducted in 1992, a textual analysis of party platforms, and a survey of government economic policy since 1989. The attribution of this association between social class and the vote in Spain to the strategic policy choices made by elites also offers an additional perspective on how social divisions come to be linked to party systems.