preview

Social Cleavages

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document

Cleavages are important in our understanding of political behaviors and attitudes. The importance of cleavages branches from the observation that social groups distinguished by social features such as class, religion, ethnicity, language, and region often tend to be similar in their political attitudes and behavior. (Dunphy, 2017) However, not all social cleavages are political cleavages for a social cleavage to have political significance three conditions must be present. Firstly, differences must be socially important and recognized by a society such as race and religion. Secondly, social groups must be aware of their identity and express them in their social life, for example through their political actions. Lastly, there must also be a

Get Access