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Still Going Strong? The Social and Political Relevance of Class Identification Over Time in Four Countries

Rune Stubager et al.

Comparative Political Studies2026https://doi.org/10.1177/00104140251414034article
ABDC A
Weight
0.50

Abstract

According to influential theories of modernization and individualization, social class has ceased to be relevant to citizens and their political behaviour in Western countries; class has been proclaimed ‘dead’. The argument is particularly strong at the subjective level where people are thought to no longer identify with social classes let alone relate this identification to politics. Using time-series election study data covering many decades combined with manifesto data from the US, Britain, Denmark, and Norway, we challenge this view and show that levels of class identification have been stable. The relationship between class identification, attitudes to redistribution and vote choice has, however, changed but this appears to result more from political parties’ varying polarization on economic and social issues than from the demise of class in voters’ minds.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/00104140251414034

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@article{rune2026,
  title        = {{Still Going Strong? The Social and Political Relevance of Class Identification Over Time in Four Countries}},
  author       = {Rune Stubager et al.},
  journal      = {Comparative Political Studies},
  year         = {2026},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1177/00104140251414034},
}

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Still Going Strong? The Social and Political Relevance of Class Identification Over Time in Four Countries

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Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.