Left-Wing Mobilization and Socioeconomic Equality
- 1 October 1983
- journal article
- research article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Comparative Political Studies
- Vol. 16 (3), 393-416
- https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414083016003006
Abstract
This article provides a theoretical and empirical cross-national analysis of the relationship between two composite concepts: left-wing mobilization (entailing consideration of the degree of social democratic party rule, left-wing party opposition, and trade union strength) and socioeconomic equality. A typology of this latter concept is presented that focuses upon four dimensions of equality: meritocratic (equality of opportunity), welfarist (ethos of the modern welfare state), emancipatory (socio-proportional equality for sexual, ethnic, and racial groups), and egalitarian (equality of income distribution). After consideration of the theoretical literature on the impact of the partisan composition of government (as well as the role of opposition and trade union forces) upon the degree of socioeconomic equality, hypotheses are derived to test empirically this relationship for the advanced capitalist states of Western Europe, North America, and the Pacific during the postwar era. The findings lend credence to a view (termed in this article the Constrained Socialism school of thought) that perceives severe politico-economic constraints in the ability to increase substantially those dimensions of socioeconomic equality that are not highly compatible with the interests of advanced capitalism.Keywords
This publication has 15 references indexed in Scilit:
- Foreign Policies of African States in Asymmetrical DyadsInternational Studies Quarterly, 1980
- Socialist Parties and Income Inequality in Western Industrial SocietiesThe Journal of Politics, 1980
- The Separation of Form and Content in Liberal Democratic PoliticsStudies in Political Economy, 1980
- POLITICS, ECONOMICS AND INEQUALITY: A CROSS‐NATIONAL ANALYSIS*European Journal of Political Research, 1978
- Canadian Socialism and Policy Impact: Contagion from the Left?Canadian Journal of Political Science, 1977
- The Effect of Political Democracy and Social Democracy on Equality in Industrial Societies: A Cross-National ComparisonAmerican Sociological Review, 1977
- A Comparison of Measures of Inequality of Income DistributionThe Economic Journal, 1974
- Ideology and Integration: The Case of the British Labour PartyPolitical Studies, 1971
- On the measurement of inequalityJournal of Economic Theory, 1970
- Inequality: A Cross-National AnalysisAmerican Sociological Review, 1967