Geoffrey Evans' research interests include social divisions, inequality, and politics in Britain, models of voting behaviour, the evolution of class and ethno-religious cleavages, and democratic consolidation in postcommunist societies. In addition to many journal articles covering these topics he has produced several books including The End of Class Politics? (OUP 1999). He is University Professor and Official Fellow, Nuffield College, Oxford. Nan Dirk De Graaf's research interests include empirical sociology in general, social stratification, especially educational attainment and consequences of social mobility, cultural sociology, sociology of religion and pro-social behaviour, and political sociology and criminology. He is University Professor and Official Fellow Nuffield College, Oxford.

The electoral coalitions assembled by parties of different ideological stripes in todays established Western democracies are not simply a reflection of cross-national or inter-temporal differences in social structure; they also respond to the programmatic appeals of the parties, and more specifically the strategic configuration of programmatic moderation or polarization among them. Drawing on the most comprehensive cross-national and cross-time dataset available to date, and supplemented by a battery of meticulous case studies, this book drives home this crucial point in a more convincing way than any previous study. It is required reading for anyone probing into the realignments of partisan politics in postindustrial democracies and looking for methodological guidance in advancing that enterprise.

• PART I: MODELS, MEASUREMENT AND COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS; PART II: THE CASE STUDIES; PART III: CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS

Geoffrey Evans' research interests include social divisions, inequality, and politics in Britain, models of voting behaviour, the evolution of class and ethno-religious cleavages, and democratic consolidation in postcommunist societies. In addition to many journal articles covering these topics he has produced several books including The End of Class Politics? (OUP 1999). He is University Professor and Official Fellow, Nuffield College, Oxford. Nan Dirk De Graaf's research interests include empirical sociology in general, social stratification, especially educational attainment and consequences of social mobility, cultural sociology, sociology of religion and pro-social behaviour, and political sociology and criminology. He is University Professor and Official Fellow Nuffield College, Oxford.

The electoral coalitions assembled by parties of different ideological stripes in todays established Western democracies are not simply a reflection of cross-national or inter-temporal differences in social structure; they also respond to the programmatic appeals of the parties, and more specifically the strategic configuration of programmatic moderation or polarization among them. Drawing on the most comprehensive cross-national and cross-time dataset available to date, and supplemented by a battery of meticulous case studies, this book drives home this crucial point in a more convincing way than any previous study. It is required reading for anyone probing into the realignments of partisan politics in postindustrial democracies and looking for methodological guidance in advancing that enterprise.

• PART I: MODELS, MEASUREMENT AND COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS; PART II: THE CASE STUDIES; PART III: CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS

Geoffrey Evans' research interests include social divisions, inequality, and politics in Britain, models of voting behaviour, the evolution of class and ethno-religious cleavages, and democratic consolidation in postcommunist societies. In addition to many journal articles covering these topics he has produced several books including The End of Class Politics? (OUP 1999). He is University Professor and Official Fellow, Nuffield College, Oxford. Nan Dirk De Graaf's research interests include empirical sociology in general, social stratification, especially educational attainment and consequences of social mobility, cultural sociology, sociology of religion and pro-social behaviour, and political sociology and criminology. He is University Professor and Official Fellow Nuffield College, Oxford.

The electoral coalitions assembled by parties of different ideological stripes in todays established Western democracies are not simply a reflection of cross-national or inter-temporal differences in social structure; they also respond to the programmatic appeals of the parties, and more specifically the strategic configuration of programmatic moderation or polarization among them. Drawing on the most comprehensive cross-national and cross-time dataset available to date, and supplemented by a battery of meticulous case studies, this book drives home this crucial point in a more convincing way than any previous study. It is required reading for anyone probing into the realignments of partisan politics in postindustrial democracies and looking for methodological guidance in advancing that enterprise.

• PART I: MODELS, MEASUREMENT AND COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS; PART II: THE CASE STUDIES; PART III: CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS