The impact of sector employment on party choice: A comparative study of eight West European countries

Abstract

Abstract. In this article, the impact of sector employment on party choice in eight West European countries is examined. The empirical analysis is organised into three parts. First, the impact of sector on party choice treated as a nominal‐level variable is analysed. Then the impact of sector within various social classes is focused upon, and finally sector employment is considered in relation to the division between socialist and non‐socialist parties. The impact of sector employment is large in Denmark; moderate in Britain, France and Italy; small in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands; and insignificant in Ireland. The impact of sector employment is much greater within the service class than any of the other social classes. The party families of the left, and also the greens, get stronger support from the public employees, while the main party families among the non‐socialist parties, apart from the Christian Democrats, get strongest support from private‐sector employees. Sector employment is most strongly correlated with socialist/non‐socialist party division in Denmark followed by France and Britain, with only minor or insignificant correlation in the other countries.