Abstract
The Post war period was characterized by move towards spreading secular and mass consumer-goods societies. This note is valid in the Federal Republic of Germany, the French Fifth Republic, and post-war Italy. This major turn in societies had to be understood by political parties and translated in changes in their organizations and ideologies. Older party types such as the old-style bourgeois party of individual representation became the exception. While some species continue to survive, they do not determinate the nature of the party system any longer. Another classical type of party, the mass integration party, product of an age with harder class lines and more sharply protruding denominational structures, was also likely to evolve , in order to suits more the evolution of societies. Kirchheimer contrasts the catch-all party with the mass party model . The catch all party ‘abandoned attempts at the intellectual and moral encadrement of the working class, turning more fully to the electorate scene in an effort ‘to exchange effectiveness in depth for a wider audience and immediate electoral success. The narrower political task and the electoral goals of the catch-all party differ sharply from the all embracing concerns of the mass party; today the latter is seen as counter-productive since they deter segments of a potential ‘nation-wide clientele'2. The catch-all parties in Europe appear at a time of de-ideologization which has substantially contributed to their rise and spread. De-ideologization in the political field involves the transfer of ideology from partnership in a clearly visible political goal structure into one of many sufficient but by no means necessary motivational forces operative in the voters' choice . Kirchheimer held the mainstream parties German parties, to be particularly good examples of ‘catch-all' parties.
