Citizen Politics in Post-Industrial Societies

by Clark, Terry Nichols; Rempel, Michael

• ISBN13: 9780813389875
• ISBN10: 0813389879
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1997-07-01
• Publisher: Westview Pr

Summary

The past several decades have seen profound changes in the political landscapes of advanced industrial societies. This volume assesses key political developments and links them to underlying socioeconomic and cultural forces. These forces include the growth of a well-educated middle class, the moderating of bipolar class divisions between wealthy capitalists and struggling workers, and the accelerated rise of new media technologies (especially television) as potent tools shaping the terms of public discussion. Related political transformations include the spread of new social movements on feminist, environmental, and civil liberties issues; economic concerns focusing more on growth, taxes, and middle class programs than on redistribution; the fracturing of core left and right political ideologies; and the growing centrality of electronic media as carriers of political opinions and rhetoric.In their introduction, Terry Clark and Michael Rempel pull together many seemingly disparate political changes to construct a clear, synthetic framework, identifying eight core components of postindustrial politics. Part Two examines shifts in underlying cultural values. It features a lively exchange between different contributors over whether apolitical, materialistic values have risen or declined since the 1960s. Part Three offers an in-depth look at the political views and party allegiances of the growing middle classes and Part Four examines some of today's most divisive issues.Although primarily adopting a cross-national perspective,Citizen Politics in Post-Industrial Societiesincludes several case studies of politics in the United States and one in Japan. Unique in its synthetic vision, this volume will stimulate and challenge readers from across the political and theoretical spectrum.

Author Biography

Terry Nichols Clark is professor of sociology at the University of Chicago and coordinator of the FAUI Project. Vincent Hoffmann-Martinot is a political scientist at the French Urban Center, Cervel, and the CNRS in Bordeaux. Terry Nichols Clark is professor of sociology at the University of Chicago and the editor of the research annual, Research in Urban Policy (JAI). Michael Rempel is an advanced graduate student in sociology at the University of Chicago.

Table of Contents

List of Tables and Figures	vii	(4)
About the Editors and Contributors	xi	(2)
Preface	xiii
1 Overview of the Book	1	(8)
Michael Rempel
Terry Nichols Clark
Part 1 Introduction	9	(48)
2 Post-Industrial Politics: A Framework for Interpreting Citizen Politics Since the 1960s	9	(48)
Michael Rempel
Terry Nichols Clark
Part 2 Cultural Shifts and Politics: Is Materialism Rising, Declining, or Both? Implications for Political Activism	57	(56)
3 The Trend Toward Postmaterialist Values Continues	57	(10)
Ronald Inglehart
4 American Youth Are Becoming More Materialistic	67	(18)
Richard A. Easterlin
Eileen M. Crimmins
Inglehart Replies: Postmaterialism Is the More General Trend	78	(3)
Easterlin and Crimmins Reply: Materialist and Postmaterialist Values: A Comment	81	(2)
Inglehart's Rejoinder: How to Reconcile the Findings	83	(2)
5 The New Political Culture in Japan	85	(28)
Naoyuki Umemori
Michael Rempel
Part 3 The New Middle Class Politics: What Is Special About the Politics of Professionals and Other Middle Class Persons?	113	(48)
6 The Politics of Professionals in Five Advanced Industrial Societies	113	(30)
Steven Brint
William L. Cunningham
Rebecca S. K. Li
7 Partisan Alignments of the "Old" and "New" Middle Classes in Post-Industrial America	143	(18)
Clem Brooks
Jeff Manza
Part 4 New Issues, Ideologies, and Cleavages: What Mobilizes Citizens?	161	(84)
8 New Fiscal Populism: Innovations in Political Candidates and Campaigns in Illinois, 1956-1992	161	(34)
G. Allen Mayer
9 Contemporary Ideological Cleavages in the United States	195	(14)
Michael Rempel
10 The Social Origins of Feminism and Political Activism: Findings from Fourteen Countries	209	(36)
Paul Butts
Bibliography	245	(16)
About the Book	261