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Rokkan

Rokkan is primarily a Norwegian surname. The best known bearer is Stein Rokkan (1921–1979), a Norwegian political scientist whose work helped shape modern comparative politics. He studied political science and sociology and spent much of his career at European universities.

Rokkan is best known for developing the approach that links long-standing social and political cleavages to

Rokkan's research emphasized empirical cross-national analysis and the role of institutions in political development. His framework

contemporary
party
systems.
Working
with
Seymour
Lipset,
he
helped
formalize
cleavage
theory,
arguing
that
historical
processes
of
state
formation,
religion,
language,
urbanization
and
class
relations
create
enduring
divisions
that
structure
political
competition
and
electoral
alignments.
has
influenced
research
on
party
systems,
elites,
and
the
durability
of
political
loyalties
in
Western
Europe
and
beyond.
His
contributions
helped
popularize
the
use
of
historical
sociology
in
political
science
and
informed
later
theories
of
modernization
and
institutional
development.
In
contemporary
reference
works,
Stein
Rokkan
is
cited
as
a
foundational
figure
in
comparative
politics,
and
the
surname
Rokkan
appears
chiefly
in
Scandinavian
contexts.