”They are all over the place”. An explorative investigation of the relationship between perceived positions of social classes and political parties

Resumé

The impact of social class in modern societies is still contested. Research in voter behavior has demonstrated a declining importance of class on voting, but sociological studies demonstrate that class is still important for lifestyle. One potential reason for this ambiguous role of social class is that people’s understanding of classes and class relations does not fit well with their understanding of modern party competition. Based on analyses of focus group discussions, this article explores how people relate their understanding of social classes in Danish society and their understanding of political parties. The analysis confirms that people still consider the Danish society as being divided into classes, but that they can only reluctantly and with difficulty place the political parties within a landscape of social classes.