Introduction to Studying and Researching Politics 5.11.18 Political Cleavages Week 7 Political cleavage is a division between two different opinions / two fundamentally different interests What constitutes a political cleavage? · Structural component = social groups with opposed interests e.g. landlords v renters - one persons income spent on rent is the other persons income as a landloed - the more rent charged the better off the landlord and the worse off the renter. · Cultural / identity component = consciousness of collective identity e.g. unionists vs nationalists in Northern Ireland - unionists want to stay tied to the UK and nationalists want a connection with ROI · Political action component = cleavage given expression by political actors, namely parties . Territorial cleavage, one of the oldest in politics, traced back to the Roman empire by Stein Rokkan. - Different interests based on how close you are to the centre of a country & the identity that comes with being part of the centre or feeling peripheral and marginalised - Formation of European nation-states associated with a strong centre (cultural, economic, politicaltt in tension with the periphery. Nation states of Europe have always had tension between how close they are to the centre of power/political action compared to whether you are removed from that - USA on the basis of British colonisation - had a economic and political heart on the Eastern sea board (Boston, New York, Washington DC, Philadelphiatt - in tension with the periphery of the South (Texas, New Mexicott - had a different kind of political identity and interests Labour vs Capital Cleavage The most fundamental modern cleavage Marx and Engels (1848tt - "the history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles" · The big lines in European social and political developments can best be understood by looking at how those societies were organised on the basis of different interests (structuraltt, how they were organised on the basis of a collective consciousness (cultural identitytt & how that played out in terms of the politics (political representation/mobilisationtt · "Society as a whole is more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two great classes directly facing each other - Bourgeoisie and Proletariat" . Bourgeoisie - rich but not in the sense of income but the fact that other people work for them (they own the land/factoriestt - own capital - i.e they are interested in extracting profit from labour · Bourgeoisie's overall interest - getting other people to work as cheaply and productively as possible - the more they can do that, the more they can tap into that to get their own income and wealth · Proletariat own nothing, live off work and hence their demands (labour rights, welfarett put profit at risk . Proletariat's overall interest - selling their labour to the highest bidder and working in the conditions that are most favourable to them (payed holidays, breaks etctt · What happens to people who cant work? - children,