New social movements and changes in political participation in Western Europe

West European Politics

Volumn 19, Issue 1, 1996, Pages 28-50

  Koopmans, Ruud ^a  

^a WZB BERLIN SOCIAL SCIENCE CENTER   (Germany)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

COMPARATIVE STUDY; DOMESTIC POLITICS; INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON; POLITICAL PARTICIPATION; SOCIAL MOVEMENT;

EUROPE, (WEST); NETHERLANDS;

EID: 0030473168     PISSN: 01402382     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/01402389608425119     Document Type: Article

References (53)

1. See, for instance, Ronald Inglehart, The Silent Revolution. Changing Values and Political Styles Among Western Publics (Princeton UP 1977); and Culture Shift in Advanced Industrial Society (Princeton UP 1990) by the same author.
2. See, for instance, Ronald Inglehart, The Silent Revolution. Changing Values and Political Styles Among Western Publics (Princeton UP 1977); and Culture Shift in Advanced Industrial Society (Princeton UP 1990) by the same author.
3. See, for instance, Alberto Melucci, Nomads of the Present. Social Movements and Individual Needs in Contemporary Society (Philadelphia: Temple UP 1990); Hans van der Loo, Erik Snel and Bart van Steenbergen, Een wenkend perspectief? Nieuwesociale bewegingen en culturele Veranderingen (Amersfoort: De Horstink 1984); Alain Touraine, La prophétie anti-nucléaire (Paris: Seuil 1980).
4. See, for instance, Alberto Melucci, Nomads of the Present. Social Movements and Individual Needs in Contemporary Society (Philadelphia: Temple UP 1990); Hans van der Loo, Erik Snel and Bart van Steenbergen, Een wenkend perspectief? Nieuwesociale bewegingen en culturele Veranderingen (Amersfoort: De Horstink 1984); Alain Touraine, La prophétie anti-nucléaire (Paris: Seuil 1980).
5. See, for instance, Alberto Melucci, Nomads of the Present. Social Movements and Individual Needs in Contemporary Society (Philadelphia: Temple UP 1990); Hans van der Loo, Erik Snel and Bart van Steenbergen, Een wenkend perspectief? Nieuwesociale bewegingen en culturele Veranderingen (Amersfoort: De Horstink 1984); Alain Touraine, La prophétie anti-nucléaire (Paris: Seuil 1980).
6. For instance, Claus Offe, 'New Social Movements: Challenging the Boundaries of Institutional Politics', Social Research 52 (1985) pp.817-68; Hanspeter Kriesi, Political Mobilization and Social Change. The Dutch Case in Comparative Perspective (Aldershot: Avebury 1993).
7. For instance, Claus Offe, 'New Social Movements: Challenging the Boundaries of Institutional Politics', Social Research 52 (1985) pp.817-68; Hanspeter Kriesi, Political Mobilization and Social Change. The Dutch Case in Comparative Perspective (Aldershot: Avebury 1993).
8. Samuel H. Barnes, Max Kaase et al., Political Action. Mass Participation in Five Western Democracies (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage 1979).
9. Inglehart 1977 (note 2).
10. Eurobarometer 31, cited in Max Kaase and Friedhelm Neidhardt, Politische Gewalt und Repression. Ergebnisse von Bevölkerungsumfragen (Berlin: Duncker & Humblot 1990) p. 25.
11. Barnes and Kaase 1979 (note 4), pp.548-49, 566; see also M. Kent Jennings, Jan W. van Deth, et al. Continuities in Political Action. A Longitudinal Study of Political Orientations in Three Western Democracies (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter 1989) p.94.
12. The data used here were not originally gathered for this paper. Nevertheless, the selection of cases is appropriate for the present purpose since they include three countries with strong NSMs (Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland) and three with relatively weak NSMs (Great Britain, France, Spain).
13. The newspapers chosen were NRC/Handelsblad for the Netherlands, the Frankfurter Rundschau for Germany, Le Monde for France, the Neue Zürcher Zeitung for Switzerland, El Pais for Spain, and The Guardian for Great Britain. The papers were matched as far as possible on criteria such as readership, political colour and quality. A posteriori tests did not reveal significant differences in the papers' selectivity in reporting protest events. Moreover, within-country comparisons with other available data sources showed that our data encompassed virtually all important protest events (such as mass demonstrations) and provided an accurate picture of developments over time. For more details on the sampling and coding procedures and on validity and reliability tests, see Ruud Koopmans, Democracy from Below. New Social Movements and the Political System in West Germany (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, forthcoming) pp.247-64.
14. Examples of studies using protest event data derived from newspapers include Doug McAdam, Political Process and the Development of Black Insurgency (U. of Chicago Press 1982); and Sidney Tarrow, Democracy and Disorder. Protest and Politics in Italy 1965-1975 (Oxford: Clarendon Press 1989). For a discussion of methodological issues see, for instance. M. Herbert Danzger, 'Validating Conflict Data', American Sociological Review 40 (1975) pp.570-84; and David Snyder and William R. Kelly, 'Conflict Intensity, Media Sensitivity and the Validity of Newspaper Data', ibid. 42 (1977) pp. 105-23.
15. Examples of studies using protest event data derived from newspapers include Doug McAdam, Political Process and the Development of Black Insurgency (U. of Chicago Press 1982); and Sidney Tarrow, Democracy and Disorder. Protest and Politics in Italy 1965-1975 (Oxford: Clarendon Press 1989). For a discussion of methodological issues see, for instance. M. Herbert Danzger, 'Validating Conflict Data', American Sociological Review 40 (1975) pp.570-84; and David Snyder and William R. Kelly, 'Conflict Intensity, Media Sensitivity and the Validity of Newspaper Data', ibid. 42 (1977) pp. 105-23.
16. Examples of studies using protest event data derived from newspapers include Doug McAdam, Political Process and the Development of Black Insurgency (U. of Chicago Press 1982); and Sidney Tarrow, Democracy and Disorder. Protest and Politics in Italy 1965-1975 (Oxford: Clarendon Press 1989). For a discussion of methodological issues see, for instance. M. Herbert Danzger, 'Validating Conflict Data', American Sociological Review 40 (1975) pp.570-84; and David Snyder and William R. Kelly, 'Conflict Intensity, Media Sensitivity and the Validity of Newspaper Data', ibid. 42 (1977) pp. 105-23.
17. Examples of studies using protest event data derived from newspapers include Doug McAdam, Political Process and the Development of Black Insurgency (U. of Chicago Press 1982); and Sidney Tarrow, Democracy and Disorder. Protest and Politics in Italy 1965-1975 (Oxford: Clarendon Press 1989). For a discussion of methodological issues see, for instance. M. Herbert Danzger, 'Validating Conflict Data', American Sociological Review 40 (1975) pp.570-84; and David Snyder and William R. Kelly, 'Conflict Intensity, Media Sensitivity and the Validity of Newspaper Data', ibid. 42 (1977) pp. 105-23.
18. For the French case, we used the Mardi (Tuesday) edition of Le Monde, which appears on Monday and reports on events during the weekend. The Spanish data are based on a smaller sample than the data for the other countries, namely on the first Monday and Sunday papers of each month. The Sunday paper had to be included because no suitable newspaper could be found that does not have a Sunday edition. To ensure comparability with the other countries, where Monday papers were coded that report on events on two days, the Sunday paper had to be included in Spain. Figures for Spain were weighted accordingly by a factor 4.33. As a result of the smaller sample size, the Spanish participation figures are relatively sensitive to the inclusion or exclusion of large demonstrations in the sample, and are therefore less exact and reliable than those for the other countries. Nevertheless, the differences between Spain and the other countries reported below are so large that they can at most to a limited extent be explained by possible over-estimation as a result of the sampling and weighing procedures. Thus, even the unweighed level of participation in non-strike activities in Spain (215,000 per million inhabitants) is higher that in any of the other countries, despite the much smaller size of the Spanish sample.
19. The fact that the data are based on a sample implies that they should not be interpreted in any absolute sense. They are suited, however, to trace developments and shifts across time and differences among countries. The only variable which can be interpreted in more absolute terms is the level of participation. The aggregate level of participation is predominantly influenced by mass demonstrations, the overwhelming majority of which take place during the weekend, as was confirmed by checks with other sources. Therefore we may assume that our aggregate participation figures quite closely approach the 'real' level of participation.
20. Strike data for the Netherlands have been taken from Statistisch Zakboek (The Hague: Staatsuitgeverij 1975-90) and 75 jaar statistiek van Nederland (The Hague: Staatsuitgeverij 1975). The comparative strike data are based on the Year Book of Labour Statistics (Geneva: International Labour Office 1981-90). Note that the strike data are not based on a sample. but include all strikes. This implies that a comparison of absolute numbers of strikes and other protests is not possible.
21. Strike data for the Netherlands have been taken from Statistisch Zakboek (The Hague: Staatsuitgeverij 1975-90) and 75 jaar statistiek van Nederland (The Hague: Staatsuitgeverij 1975). The comparative strike data are based on the Year Book of Labour Statistics (Geneva: International Labour Office 1981-90). Note that the strike data are not based on a sample. but include all strikes. This implies that a comparison of absolute numbers of strikes and other protests is not possible.
22. Strike data for the Netherlands have been taken from Statistisch Zakboek (The Hague: Staatsuitgeverij 1975-90) and 75 jaar statistiek van Nederland (The Hague: Staatsuitgeverij 1975). The comparative strike data are based on the Year Book of Labour Statistics (Geneva: International Labour Office 1981-90). Note that the strike data are not based on a sample. but include all strikes. This implies that a comparison of absolute numbers of strikes and other protests is not possible.
23. The sample for 1965-74 was based on the first Monday paper of each month, and is therefore less encompassing than the sample for 1975-89. Figures for 1965-74 were weighted accordingly by a factor 4.33.
24. In Figures 2 and 3 levels of participation are measured in person days and not, as in the comparative data in the next section, in total numbers of persons involved, because for the Netherlands no data on numbers of people involved in strikes are available for the period before 1970. This way of measuring participation, of course, benefits the level of participation in strikes relative to other protests, because most other forms of protest involving large numbers of people last no longer than one day, whereas strikes sometimes last weeks or even months. Nevertheless, this methodological problem does not affect the basic conclusions that can be drawn from Figures 2 and 3. The increasing dominance of NSMs displayed in Figure 2 would only show up more pronounced if we would use numbers of people involved as a criterion, while the difference between the levels of participation in strikes and in NSMs in Figure 3 is so large that it can only to a limited extent be caused by the way in which participation is measured. In addition, it should be noted that the duration of participation is a legitimate element of the total volume of participation. Therefore, another way of measuring participation which ignores this element would not have been unproblematic either.
25. See Karl-Werner Brand (ed.) Neue soziale Bewegungen in Westeuropa und den USA. Ein internationaler Vergleich (Frankfurt: Campus 1985).
26. For instance Touraine 1980 (note 2) and Offe 1985 (note 3).
27. The table includes those social and political organisations with 50,000 members or more in 1980 and/or 1994. Churches as well as purely recreational organisations such as sports associations were excluded. Membership figures were supplied by the organisations themselves, and include both formal members and regular, registered financial supporters. Three organisations which probably would meet the membership criterion refused to give information. Membership of the Red Cross (one million in both 1980 and 1994) was equally divided among the 'Third World ...' and 'health care' categories, since the organisation's activities cover both issue areas. For a full list of the individual organisations in each issue area, see Sociaal en Cultureel Rapport 1994 (Rijswijk. Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureau) pp.583-84.
28. See Jelle Visser, 'Die Mitgliederentwicklung der westeuropäischen Gewerkschaften. Trends und Konjunkturen 1920-1983', Jnl für Sozialforschung 26/1 (1986) p.7.
29. See Jean Beaufays, Les partis catholiques en Belgique et aux Pays-Bas, 1918-1958 (Brussels: Emile Bruylant 1973) p.420; K. Vorrink, Een halve eeuw beginselstrijd. Overdenkingen over verleden en toekomst bij een historische mijlpaal (Amsterdam: De Arbeiderspers 1945) p.136; Richard S. Katz, Peter Mair et al., 'The membership of political parties in European democracies', European Jnl of Political Research [hereafter EJPR] 22 (1992) p.334.
30. See Jean Beaufays, Les partis catholiques en Belgique et aux Pays-Bas, 1918-1958 (Brussels: Emile Bruylant 1973) p.420; K. Vorrink, Een halve eeuw beginselstrijd. Overdenkingen over verleden en toekomst bij een historische mijlpaal (Amsterdam: De Arbeiderspers 1945) p.136; Richard S. Katz, Peter Mair et al., 'The membership of political parties in European democracies', European Jnl of Political Research [hereafter EJPR] 22 (1992) p.334.
31. See Jean Beaufays, Les partis catholiques en Belgique et aux Pays-Bas, 1918-1958 (Brussels: Emile Bruylant 1973) p.420; K. Vorrink, Een halve eeuw beginselstrijd. Overdenkingen over verleden en toekomst bij een historische mijlpaal (Amsterdam: De Arbeiderspers 1945) p.136; Richard S. Katz, Peter Mair et al., 'The membership of political parties in European democracies', European Jnl of Political Research [hereafter EJPR] 22 (1992) p.334.
32. As a percentage of the electorate, the aggregate membership of political parties declined from almost ten per cent in 1963 to somewhat over three per cent in 1989. See Ruud Koole. De opkomst van de moderne kaderpartij (Utrecht: Het Spectrum 1992) p. 177.
33. Which of course does not exclude the possibility that the rise of the NSMs is associated with a shift towards unconventional mobilisation in particular sections of the population, such as the educated middle classes.
34. In Germany, the NSMs have used confrontational forms to about the same extent as other movements (23 per cent versus 20 per cent).
35. An inspection of individual action forms instead of the broad strategies displayed in the table, leads to the same conclusion. Even though we used a detailed coding list including some 50 action forms, the data do not reveal any form that is particularly associated with the NSMs. The only exception worth mentioning is the camp out, which was used in 1.9 per cent of NSM protests and was almost absent from the action repertoire of other movements. This indicates that the NSMs, like many other movements, have indeed spawned some modest tactical innovations. There is no indication, however, that the NSMs have brought about major changes in the forms of unconventional participation, which confirms Tilly's claim that the repertoire of contention in Western Europe has remained largely unaltered since the nineteenth century; see Charles Tilly. The Contentious French. Four Centuries of Popular Struggle (Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard UP 1986) pp.390-95.
36. See Arend Lijphart, The Politics of Accomodation. Pluralism and Democracy in the Netherlands (Berkeley, CA: U. of California Press 1968).
37. Apart from the movements mentioned explicitly in the tables, the category of NSMs includes the squatters', homosexual, women's and student movements, as well as New Left radical movements (terrorist organisations such as the German Red Army Fraction; the autonomous movement). I follow the large majority of the literature on NSMs in not including regionalist movements in this category. While the other movements share a common social structural base in the educated new middle classes and draw there core participants from overlapping alternative milieux, regionalist movements tend to have a very different social base (see for instance Hanspeter Kriesi (ed.) Bewegung in der Schweizer Politik. Fallstudien zu politischen Mobilisierungsprozessen in der Schweiz (Frankfurt: Campus 1985)). Moreover, the data presented here as well as within-country comparisons across time show that, while the trajectories and strengths of the other movements tend to covary, the development and strength of regionalist movements is unrelated, or even inversely related to that of the NSMs (see also Jan Willem Duyvendak, Le poids du politique. Nouveaux mouvements sociaux en France (Paris: L'Harmattan 1994).
38. Apart from the movements mentioned explicitly in the tables, the category of NSMs includes the squatters', homosexual, women's and student movements, as well as New Left radical movements (terrorist organisations such as the German Red Army Fraction; the autonomous movement). I follow the large majority of the literature on NSMs in not including regionalist movements in this category. While the other movements share a common social structural base in the educated new middle classes and draw there core participants from overlapping alternative milieux, regionalist movements tend to have a very different social base (see for instance Hanspeter Kriesi (ed.) Bewegung in der Schweizer Politik. Fallstudien zu politischen Mobilisierungsprozessen in der Schweiz (Frankfurt: Campus 1985)). Moreover, the data presented here as well as within-country comparisons across time show that, while the trajectories and strengths of the other movements tend to covary, the development and strength of regionalist movements is unrelated, or even inversely related to that of the NSMs (see also Jan Willem Duyvendak, Le poids du politique. Nouveaux mouvements sociaux en France (Paris: L'Harmattan 1994).
39. See Jaime Pastor, '"New" Social Movements and Their Characteristics in Spain', Paper presented at the First European Conference on Social Movements, Berlin, Oct. 1992.
40. The point here is not that the traditional left played no role whatsoever in the peace movements in other countries. However, although they did not askew concluding alliances with parts of the traditional left, in countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland, independent peace organisations and local groups rooted in alternative subcultures were the main carriers of the peace movement. See, for instance, Thomas Leif, 'Entscheidungsstrukturen in der westdeutschen Friedensbewegung', Leviathan 4/1989; Hanspeter Kriesi and Philip van Praag, Old and New Politics: The Dutch Peace Movement and the Traditional Political Organizations', EJPR 15 (1987).
41. The point here is not that the traditional left played no role whatsoever in the peace movements in other countries. However, although they did not askew concluding alliances with parts of the traditional left, in countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland, independent peace organisations and local groups rooted in alternative subcultures were the main carriers of the peace movement. See, for instance, Thomas Leif, 'Entscheidungsstrukturen in der westdeutschen Friedensbewegung', Leviathan 4/1989; Hanspeter Kriesi and Philip van Praag, Old and New Politics: The Dutch Peace Movement and the Traditional Political Organizations', EJPR 15 (1987).
42. This points to a more general problem involved in subsuming 'real' movements under the ideal-typical category of 'new social movements'. Peace, solidarity with the Third World and women's rights have historically also been part of the issues addressed by the labour movement. Thus, in some historical periods and in some countries, mobilisation around these issues may be embedded ideologically, organisationally and socialstructurally in a traditional pattern of mobilisation, while at other times and places such mobilisation may conform more to the non-hierarchical, non-ideological, identity-oriented, new middle class-based, ideal-typical 'new' pattern.
43. The British distribution of protest events is substantially influenced by the inclusion or exclusion of protests in Northern Ireland. Without Northern Ireland, the percentage of events by regionalist movements drops to 10.9 per cent, while the percentage of NSM events rises to 53.9 per cent.
44. There are still substantial differences among the levels of unconventional mobilisation in these three countries, however, which can be explained by other aspects of the political opportunity structure than the cleavage structure, such as the strength of the state and the strategies of authorities towards challengers. I will not elaborate on these factors very much in this paper, hut see Ruud Koopmans and Hanspeter Kriesi 'Institutional Structures and Prevailing Strategies', in Hanspeter Kriesi, Ruud Koopmans, Jan Willem Duyvendak and Marco G. Giugni, The Politics of New Social Movements in Western Europe. A Comparative Analysis (Minneapolis, MN: U. of Minnesota Press, 1995).
45. The data refer to the situation in 1981-83, and have been taken from James E. Curtis, Edward G. Grabb and Douglas E. Baer, 'Voluntary Association Membership in Fifteen Countries: A Comparative Analysis', American Sociological Review 57/2 (1993) p.143.
46. See Hanspeter Kriesi, Ruud Koopmans, Jan Willem Duyvendak and Marco G. Giugni, 'New social movements and political opportunities in Western Europe', EJPR 22 (1992) p.230. In addition, for the Swiss case it should be noted that one important form of conventional mobilisation is not tapped in the data presented in this article, namely participation in signature campaigns for referenda and popular initiatives. If we would include this form of participation, Switzerland would have a level of conventional mobilisation that surpasses by far that found in the other countries (see Koopmans and Kriesi 1995, note 31). This fact, however, perfectly fits our general finding that levels of conventional and unconventional mobilisation are inversely related, for Switzerland also has by far the lowest level of unconventional mobilisation (see Table 3).
47. A thesis which, again, has been most influentially advanced by the Political Action study (note 4).
48. This finding, as well as the contrasting correlations between postmaterialism, support for new social movements, and unconventional participation on the individual and aggregate levels of analysis, show that one should be extremely careful in generalising findings from one level of analysis to another. Most social scientists will not dispute this conclusion, but not all of them live up to it. Thus, a whole generation of survey analysts of political participation has generalised the finding of an individual-level correlation between postmaterialism, sympathy for new social movements, and high dispositions towards unconventional participation to a supposed aggregate-level 'participatory revolution', without the necessary aggregate longitudinal and cross-national evidence to support this thesis.
49. See Kriesi et al. 1992 (note 33), 1995 (note 31).
50. See Chris A. Rootes, The New Politics and the New Social Movements. Accounting for British Exceptionalism', EJPR22 (1992) pp.171-91.
51. This fact undermines the plausibility of an alternative explanation for the association of strong new social movements with low levels of unconventional mobilisation. One might argue that traditional conflicts of an ethnic, religious, or class nature are simply more 'conflictive' than the issues addressed by the NSMs, which results in a more radical and unconventional action repertoire in those countries where traditional conflicts are still strong. Many of the NSMs' themes, such as environmental protection and peace, can be seen as so-called 'valence issues', to which some people attach more value than others, but to which few people are really antagonistic. Traditional conflicts on the other hand, tend to be 'position issues', which polarise people in protagonists and adversaries. Moreover, many of these issues touch upon the. more or less zerosum, distribution of basic resources among different groups. As a result, such issues may have a higher conflictive potential, leading to more radical and unconventional strategies of social movements addressing these themes.
52. I use somewhat imprecise terms like 'associated with' and 'linked to' deliberately. It is hard to tell whether and to what extent the NSMs have brought new themes into the political arena, or whether they are merely a reflection or a consequence of the rise of new themes and values. Similarly, the NSMs can be seen partially as an expression of, and partially as a contributor to processes of individualisation.
53. See Koopmans and Kriesi 1995 (note 31).