Across Western countries, left parties gentrified because their mass working‑class base shrank as a cohesive bloc and because the left suffered an ideological crisis after socialism’s collapse. With fewer unionized, blue‑collar voters and no clear economic doctrine, parties drifted toward issues and styles favored by professional‑managerial constituencies. This explains a cross‑national pattern better than idealist ‘postmaterialist’ accounts tied to Maslow’s pyramid.
— It reframes party realignment debates around durable coalition math and ideational supply, not just episodic culture‑war skirmishes.
Lionel Page
2025.06.12
100% relevant
The author explicitly posits two drivers—erosion of the working class as an electoral bloc and an ideological drift on the left—while criticizing Inglehart’s postmaterialism as Maslow‑based idealism.
Lionel Page
2025.05.30
90% relevant
The article argues that party ideologies are flexible coalition tools and documents how Western left parties shifted from working‑class representation toward educated urban constituencies while right parties expanded popular appeal—directly echoing the 'left gentrification/right popularisation' pattern and its coalition roots.
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