Research paper: Applying core debates in political science
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(S_ACDPS)
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Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU)
This is a research paper of the course "Applying Core Debates in Political Science" (master Political Science). I was graded a 9.5 for this paper, the only critique was that I did not write enough about the limitations of the paper. I used cleavage theory (from the course "Core Debates in Political...
Distrust versus trust: a new cleavage in the Netherlands?
Tatiana Kingma
Student number: 2763263
Date: 23 October, 2023
Course: Applying Core Debates in Political Science
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Lecturer: Dr. Özlem Terzi
Word count: 3298
, Distrust versus trust: a new cleavage in the Netherlands?
Political distrust poses a significant challenge in contemporary European democracies
(Bertsou, 2019, p. 213). In the last decades, this has led to the growth of new parties and the
rejection of established parties, resulting in changes in the party systems (Bertsou, 2019, p.
213). One of the countries where this is the case is the Netherlands. The Dutch parliamentary
elections, which take place in November, will probably change the political landscape
tremendously. The current study will shed more light on the nexus between the changing
party system in the Netherlands and a social divide based on political trust.
Different authors have studied party system change. Lipset and Rokkan (1967, in
Hooghe & Marks, 2017, p. 111) for instance, have argued that social conflicts – referred to as
cleavages – in nineteenth and twentieth century society laid the foundation for the formation
of political parties. The Reformation and the Industrial Revolution had divided society on the
basis of religion and class, and the parties that emerged mirrored these social cleavages. This
theory is known as cleavage theory and while the traditional cleavages have decreased,
Hooghe and Marks (2017, pp. 110, 113-116) claim that a new transnational cleavage has
emerged, keeping this theory relevant. The transnational cleavage occurred in response to
European integration, international trade and immigration (Hooghe & Marks, 2017, pp. 110,
113-116). While Durrer de la Sota et al. (2021, pp. 11-15) illustrate that the party system in
the Netherlands can be explained by cleavage theory, it does not provide an answer for the
current changes. The question is then, whether there is a new cleavage that can explain the
party system changes.
Different authors illustrate that there is a decline in political trust in western Europe.
Mair (2013, p. 22) for instance, has illustrated that there is a trend of citizens becoming less
engaged with politics. Using an approach which is often used by climatologists, the patterns
of disengagement become clear; instead of focusing on whether the trend is linear, Mair
(2013, pp. 25-26) pays attention to the moments when and the frequency in which peak
moments of certain valuables occur. By doing this, Mair (2013, pp. 32-33) is able to
demonstrate how in five different aspects – citizen disengagement, electoral participation,
electoral volatility, party loyalties and party membership – citizens in western Europe are less
engaged with politics. The consequences of this decline in trust have been studied as well.
Dalton and Weldon (2005, p. 940) argue for instance, that political distrust among citizens
often leads to them either not voting at all or voting on a protest party. The latter is noticeable
by the increase of anti-establishment and populist parties (Dalton & Weldon, 2005, p. 940).
Hooghe and Dassonneville (2016, p. 126) illustrate that when citizens start supporting
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