Oldal 25 [25]
Introduction: European politics nowadays ] 23
interrelated social trends from family change, with a growing proportion
of single-person households, to a higher level of education. In any case, in
terms of political conseguences, it leads to increasingly independent-minded
citizens and voters at the individual level, and to decreasing party/political
identification, falling party membership and loyalty, evaporating political
activism, dropping electoral turnout, and rising electoral volatility at the
collective level. This way, it feeds into the conclusion that today’s European
politics are characterised more by a dealignment than a realignment of
citizens, who tend to turn away, or even against, politics, or simply get
politically confused and disoriented.
c. Political arenas
Confusion and disorientation nurture frustration and anger, leading to anti¬
politics feelings with calls for technocratic solutions on the policy side, and
anti-elite and anti-systemic populism on the politics side. This trend of the
depoliticisation of politics, another symptom of a troubled European public
sphere, can be well illustrated through the transformation of political parties.
I focus on them for three main reasons: first, because this is a book about
society and politics, and political parties remain the main conveyors of
interests and value choices from the societal to the political realm; second,
because they remain essential components of democratic political systems
- even if opinion polls regularly place them as the least trusted political
institutions in contemporary European polities; and finally, because political
parties are core actors at elections, in parliaments, and in governments, where
turbulences can often be traced back to them or explained along similar
patterns they are confronted with.
The fact that mainstream political parties are facing increasing challenges
across Europe has become a commonplace in contemporary political science.
This is often attributed to two parallel reasons. One is the transformation of
political parties themselves. Typical mass parties in the late 19" and the early
20" century were not only political organisations but all-encompassing social
networks, which provided a broad spectrum of services - from social security
through cultural events to leisure and sport activities - to their members in
order to encapsulate their constituency and voters.
However, the profound change in political strategies in the second part
of the 20" century, combined with waning social cleavages, converted
mainstream parties into catch-all electoral machines, which turned their
focus from constituency representation to vote maximisation. If you wish to
obtain as many votes as possible with the aim of forming a government, you
may not want to alienate any large group of voters. Of course, the price you
pay for watered-down positions and messages is a weakening party identity
and dropping party membership. Citizens will start feeling and saying that