Ströbele What Does Suburbia Vote for?

Changed Settlement Patterns and Political Preferences in Three European Countries
1. Auflage 2017
ISBN: 978-3-8452-7960-2
Verlag: Nomos
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, Band 14, 332 Seiten, Format (B × H): 153 mm x 227 mm

Reihe: Politik und Demokratie in den kleineren Ländern Europas

Is there such a thing as suburban political preference in Western Europe, and if so, how would such a finding be related to political cleavages? To answer these questions, this book combines approaches from political science and urban studies to explain how political preferences of core city and suburban voters differ from a cross-national comparative perspective by analysing Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. The book postulates that urban-suburban divergences in political preference are related to diverging patterns of the daily use of spaces as well as to different lifestyles within the middle class.
The analyses show that suburbanites tend to prefer the conservative side of the political spectrum. Suburbia, despite being part of the urbanised world, tends towards political preference patterns that are closer to rural than to core city patterns. In a further context, the study aims to broaden the understanding of political cleavages in European multiparty democracies, particularly the urban-rural cleavage, by highlighting the relationship between one of the largest changes in the European landscape over the 20th century and its inhabitants’ political preferences.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Ströbele, Maarit Felicitas

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Systeme Wahlen und Volksabstimmungen
• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Kultur Politische Soziologie und Psychologie
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Politische Soziologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Cover;1
2; List of Abbreviations;14
3; List of Tables;16
4; List of Figures;20
5;1 Introduction;22
5.1;1.1 A first impression: Connecting suburbs and political ideas?;22
5.2;1.2 Background;23
5.3;1.3 Research questions;25
5.4;1.4 Structure of the book;29
5.5;1.5 Concept definitions;30
5.5.1;1.5.1 Suburbanisation;30
5.5.2;1.5.2 Metropolitanisation;35
5.5.3;1.5.3 Suburbs;36
5.5.4;1.5.4 Core cities;38
5.5.5;1.1.1 Rural municipalities;39
6;2 Theoretical framework;42
6.1;2.1 Towards an understanding of urban environments and society;42
6.1.1;2.1.1 Thinking of space and society;42
6.1.2;2.1.2 Space as a (constructed) social category;45
6.1.3;2.1.3 The empirical side: Categorising urban spaces;48
6.1.4;2.1.4 Electoral preference and the idea of social space;51
6.1.5;2.1.5 Suburbanisation and political preference;56
6.1.6;2.1.6 Synopsis: geographical concepts in social and political science;60
6.2;2.2 Cleavages and geographical differences;61
6.2.1;2.2.1 Classic political cleavage theory;63
6.2.2;2.2.2 Changing cities – changing cleavages?;65
6.2.3;2.2.3 The relationship between classic cleavages and suburbanisation;69
7;3 Hypotheses;72
7.1;3.1 Main hypothesis: suburban conservatism;72
7.2;3.2 The prevalent family pattern;77
7.3;3.3 Taxation and dependence on public services;80
7.4;3.4 Municipal self-representation and anti-urbanism;84
8;4 Research design;88
8.1;4.1 The model of analysis;88
8.2;4.2 Country selection;89
8.3;4.3 Methods;96
8.4;4.4 Data;98
8.5;4.5 Variables;99
8.5.1;4.5.1 Dependent variables;99
8.5.2;4.5.2 Independent variables;100
9;5 Germany;104
9.1;5.1 The history of German suburbanisation;104
9.1.1;5.1.1 1900-1930s: growing cities – growing suburbs;104
9.1.2;5.1.2 1933-1945: “Connection with the fertile soil”;107
9.1.3;5.1.3 1945–1990: The post-war economic boom and its urbanistic consequences;110
9.1.4;5.1.4 1990-today: the “in-between city”;116
9.1.5;5.1.5 Conclusion: German suburbanisation and political ideas;119
9.2;5.2 Data;121
9.2.1;5.2.1 Measuring place of residence;121
9.2.2;5.2.2 Other variables;125
9.3;5.3 Analyses;128
9.3.1;5.3.1 The broader picture: 2009 elections;128
9.3.2;5.3.2 The broader picture: Individual party preference;136
9.3.3;5.3.3 Family preferences and suburban political attitudes;154
9.3.4;5.3.4 Urban public services and political attitudes;156
9.4;5.4 Country conclusions;160
10;6 The Netherlands;164
10.1;6.1 History of Dutch suburbanisation;164
10.1.1;6.1.1 Pre–1945: The dawn of national planning instruments;165
10.1.2;6.1.2 1945-1980: Filling the polders with new suburban voters;168
10.1.3;6.1.3 1980-today: From an urban crisis to the “Vinexneighbourhood”;172
10.1.4;6.1.4 Conclusion: Nationally planned suburbanisation, political issues, and the recent rise of right-wing parties;177
10.2;6.2 Data;179
10.2.1;6.2.1 Choice of data;179
10.2.2;6.2.2 Measuring municipality categories in the Netherlands;179
10.2.3;6.2.3 Dependent variables;183
10.2.4;6.2.4 Independent variables;183
10.3;6.3 Analyses;185
10.3.1;6.3.1 A first overview: 2010 elections;185
10.3.2;6.3.2 A first overview: Individual political preference;193
10.3.3;6.3.3 Family pattern preference;200
10.3.4;6.3.4 Use of public services;202
10.4;6.4 Country conclusions;204
11;7 Switzerland;208
11.1;7.1 Suburbanisation in Switzerland;208
11.1.1;7.1.1 1900-1950: The beginnings of suburbanisation;209
11.1.2;7.1.2 1950-1980: Economic boom and mass automobilisation;212
11.1.3;7.1.3 1980-2009: “Urbanscape Switzerland”;214
11.1.4;7.1.4 Conclusion: suburbanisation and rurality;215
11.2;7.2 Data;218
11.2.1;7.2.1 Choice of data;218
11.2.2;7.2.2 Measuring municipality categories in Switzerland;219
11.2.3;7.2.3 Dependent variables;225
11.2.4;7.2.4 Independent variables;226
11.3;7.3 Analyses;230
11.3.1;7.3.1 A first overview: 2011 elections;230
11.3.2;7.3.2 A first overview: Individual political preferences;239
11.3.3;7.3.3 Family pattern preferences;250
11.3.4;7.3.4 Use of urban public services;252
11.4;7.4 Country conclusions;254
12;8 Comparison;260
12.1;8.1 Historical aspects;260
12.2;8.2 Statistical aspects;267
13;9 Conclusions;274
13.1;9.1 Theoretical considerations;277
13.2;9.2 Implications for political research;283
13.3;9.3 Practical implications;286
13.4;9.4 Limitations;287
13.5;9.5 Closing remarks;289
14; Appendix;292
15; Party preference according to subjective residence;292
16; Germany;295
17; Netherlands;317
18; Switzerland;321
19; Short biography of the author;325
20; List of references;326