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Occupational Class and Vote in the 1949 Norwegian Election. Research Note
Author(s) -
Barton Allen H.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
scandinavian political studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.65
H-Index - 41
eISSN - 1467-9477
pISSN - 0080-6757
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9477.1998.tb00004.x
Subject(s) - norwegian , class (philosophy) , political science , computer science , linguistics , artificial intelligence , philosophy
In 1948–49 the Sociology Office of the University of Oslo, under the guidance of Prof. Paul Lazarsfeld of Columbia University, initiated a series of studies on the Norwegian economic planning system. Part of this Planning Project was a national election survey in the fall of 1949, on a modified probability sample of 2600 people. The results show the paramount influence of economic class on voting, interpreting class as a combination of employer/employee relationship, property ownership, prestige‐status, and income. Indicators of the homogeneity of class environment also played a role. Given the occupational structure of Norway, the Labor party had to win over part of the non‐working‐class population to obtain control of the government. They did this by winning about 1/3 of the white‐collar vote, and about 1/4 of the farmers and fishermen. The policies of economic stabilization ‐ control of inflation through price controls, wage controls, food subsidies, and rationing, and maintenance of full employment under conditions of “suppressed inflation” ‐ were crucial to winning over these white‐collar and farm voters.