The relationship between socioeconomic development and the dynamics of contemporary politics has been the subject of considerable speculation and inquiry in the post-World War II period.1 In the Western context, most studies have focused upon the impact of developmental change on the nature of mass politics in the industrial democracies of Europe.2 The general assumption has been that the postwar spread of a predominantly industrial society has exerted a homogenizing effect on mass political behavior. Divisive, historically rooted societal cleavages have been seen as becoming less salient politically, with the general increase in wealth and social welfare gradually leading to a reduction in the ideological tone of political conflict. It has been further assumed that marked improvements in the standard of living would result in a decline in extremist political loyalties and attachments to antisystem political groups, setting the stage for the emergence of what Otto Kirchheimer has labelled modern catch-all people's parties.3 More recently, however, the