Parties of reaction

Social change produces tensions which can be reflected in the emergence of extreme often short-lived, parties of reaction. Reactionary parties fall into three main groups:

1.Fascist parties, reacting against democracy and the decay of the old order
2.Parties based on the self-employed and smaqll businesmen, reacting against large companies and powerful unions
3.Racist parties based on the poorly educated urban working class. Reacting against immigrants and guest workers


Parties in the New World

In analysing the social base of Western parties, it is important to distinguish Europe from the New World. Countries such as Canada, Australia and the United States lack European tradition of church-state and urban-rural conflict, consequently, they do not have major parties based exclusively on these clevages.