Class and Party in Australia: Comparison with Britain and the USA

One of the most familiar theories about politics in Australia, as in Britain, is that the political parties are divided fundamentally on class lines. But the strength and nature of the link between class and party remains both controversial and unclear. This paper brings new evidence to bear by applying powerful multivariate techniques to national sample survey data from Australia, Britain and the USA. We distinguish three separate aspects of class: the categorical distinction between blueand white-collar workers which informs the standard definition of class in political science; an occupational status aspect which ranks jobs on a continuum running from low to high; and confict aspects, based on 'ownership of the means of production', on the 'exercise of authority in the workplace', and the cleavage between public and private employees. We show, first, that these quite distinct aspects of class have different effects. In Australia occupational status has important effects on income and class self-image but is politically irrelevant. The much maligned blue-collar/white-collar distinction is, indeed, financially irrelevant but, none the less, has appreciable effects on class self-image and political preferences, while the conflict aspects have modest but clear effects on income, class self-image and politics. Whether or not an individual is a public employee is consistently important in all three countries. Second, the impact of class on party is relatively modest, albeit cler. Finally, these patterns are quite similar in Australia, Britain and the USA.