Political Parties in Advanced Industrial Democracies

Political Parties in Advanced Industrial Democracies PDF Author: Paul Webb
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199240558
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 488

Book Description
How relevant and vital are political parties in contemporary democracies? Do they fulfill the functions that any stable and effective democracy might expect of them, or are they little more than moribund anachronisms, relics of a past age of political life, now superseded by other mechanisms of linkage between state and society? These are the central questions which this book aims to address through a rigorous comparative analysis of political parties operating in the world'sadvanced industrial democracies. Drawing on the expertise of an impressive team of internationally known specialists, the book engages systematically with the evidence to show that, while a degree of popular cynicism towards them is often chronic, though rarely acute, parties have adapted and survived asorganizations, remodelling themselves to the needs of an era in which patterns of linkage and communication with social groups have been transformed. This has enabled them to remain central to democratic systems, especially in respect of the political functions of governance, recruitment and, albeit more problematically, interest aggregation. On the other hand, the challenges they face in respect of interest articulation, communication and participation have pushed parties into more marginalroles within Western political systems. The implications of these findings for democracy depend on the observer's normative and theoretical perspectives. Those who understand democracy primarily in terms of popular choice and control in public affairs will probably see parties as continuing to play acentral role, while those who place greater store by the more demanding criteria of optimizing interests and instilling civic orientations among citizens are far more likely to be fundamentally critical.Comparative Politics is a series for students and teachers of political science that deals with contemporary issues in comparative government and politics. The General Editors are Max Kaase, Vice President and Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences, International University Bremen, and Kenneth Newton, Professor of Government at Southampton University. The series is published in association with the European Consortium for Political Research.

Parties Without Partisans

Parties Without Partisans PDF Author: Martin P. Wattenberg
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191528994
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 330

Book Description
If democracy without political parties is unthinkable, what would happen if the role of political parties if the democratic process is weakened? The ongoing debate about the vitality of political parties is also a debate about the vitality of representative democracy. Leading scholars in the field of party research assess the evidence for partisan decline or adaptation for the OECD nations in this book. It documents the broadscale erosion of the public's partisan identities in virtually all advanced industrial democracies. Partisan dealignment is diminishing involvement in electoral politics, and for those who participate it leads to more volatility in their voting choices, an openness to new political appeals, and less predictablity in their party preferences. Political parties have adapted to partisan dealignment by strengthening their internal organizational structures and partially isolating themselves from the ebbs and flows of electoral politics. Centralized, professionalized parties with short time horizons have replaced the ideologically-driven mass parties of the past. This study also examines the role of parties within government, and finds that parties have retained their traditional roles in structuring legislative action and the function of government-further evidence that party organizations are insulating themselves from the changes transforming democratic publics. Parties without Partisans is the most comprehensive cross-national study of parties in advanced industrial democracies in all of their forms — in electoral politics, as organizations, and in government. Its findings chart both how representative democracy has been transformed in the later half of the 20th Century, as well as what the new style of democratic politics is likely to look like in the 21st Century.

Political Parties in Advanced Industrial Democracies

Political Parties in Advanced Industrial Democracies PDF Author: Paul Webb
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191528900
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 400

Book Description
How relevant and vital are political parties in contemporary democracies? Do they fulfill the functions that any stable and effective democracy might expect of them, or are they little more than moribund anachronisms, relics of a past age of political life, now superseded by other mechanisms of linkage between state and society? These are the central questions which this book aims to address through a rigorous comparative analysis of political parties operating in the world's advanced industrial democracies. Drawing on the expertise of an impressive team of internationally known specialists, the book engages systematically with the evidence to show that, while a degree of popular cynicism towards them is often chronic, though rarely acute, parties have adapted and survived as organizations, remodelling themselves to the needs of an era in which patterns of linkage and communication with social groups have been transformed. This has enabled them to remain central to democratic systems, especially in respect of the political functions of governance, recruitment and, albeit more problematically, interest aggregation. On the other hand, the challenges they face in respect of interest articulation, communication and participation have pushed parties into more marginal roles within Western political systems. The implications of these findings for democracy depend on the observer's normative and theoretical perspectives. Those who understand democracy primarily in terms of popular choice and control in public affairs will probably see parties as continuing to play a central role, while those who place greater store by the more demanding criteria of optimizing interests and instilling civic orientations among citizens are far more likely to be fundamentally critical. Comparative Politics is a series for students and teachers of political science that deals with contemporary issues in comparative government and politics. The General Editors are Max Kaase, Vice President and Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences, International University Bremen, and Kenneth Newton, Professor of Government at Southampton University. The series is published in association with the European Consortium for Political Research.

Citizen Politics

Citizen Politics PDF Author: Russell J. Dalton
Publisher: CQ Press
ISBN: 1544351798
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 361

Book Description
Now, more than ever, people drive the democratic process. What people think of their government and its leaders, how (or whether) they vote, and what they do or say about a host of political issues greatly affect the further strengthening or erosion of democracy and democratic ideals. This fully updated, shorter Seventh Edition of Citizen Politics continues to offer the only truly comparative study of political attitudes and behavior in the United States, Great Britain, France, and Germany. In addition to its comprehensive, thematic examination of political values, political activity, voting, and public images of government within a cross-national context, the updated edition of this bestseller explores how cultural issues, populism, Trump and far right parties are reshaping politics in contemporary democracies. All chapters have been updated with the latest research and empirical evidence. Further, Dalton includes recent research on citizens’ political behavior in USA, Britain, France, and Germany, as well as new evidence from national election studies in USA 2016, Britain 2017, France 2017, and Germany 2017.

Parties Without Partisans

Parties Without Partisans PDF Author: Russell J. Dalton
Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand
ISBN: 0199253099
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 330

Book Description
Parties Without Partisans provides a comprehensive cross-national study of parties in advanced industrial democracies in all their forms - in electoral politics, as organisations, and in government.

Citizen Politics

Citizen Politics PDF Author: Russell J. Dalton
Publisher: CQ Press
ISBN: 1483321436
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 361

Book Description
Now, more than ever, people drive the democratic process. What people think of their government and its leaders, how (or whether) they vote, and what they do or say about a host of political issues greatly affect the further strengthening or erosion of democracy and democratic ideals. This fully updated new sixth edition of Citizen Politics: Public Opinion and Political Parties in Advanced Industrial Democracies, by Russell J. Dalton, continues to offer the only truly comparative study of political attitudes and behavior in the United States, Great Britain, France, and Germany. In addition to its comprehensive, thematic examination of political values, political activity, voting, and public images of government within a cross-national context, Citizen Politics explores new forms of political activity, such as Internet-based activism and new forms of political consumerism. All chapters have been updated with the latest research and empirical evidence. Further, Dalton includes new discussions of citizen sophistication and its implications for democratic citizenship.

Electoral Change in Advanced Industrial Democracies

Electoral Change in Advanced Industrial Democracies PDF Author: Russell J. Dalton
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400885876
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 530

Book Description
In this study of the breakdown of traditional party loyalties and voting patterns, prominent comparativists and country specialists examine the changes now occurring in the political systems of advanced industrial democracies. Originally published in 1985. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Democracy Transformed?

Democracy Transformed? PDF Author: Bruce E. Cain
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 9780199291649
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 332

Book Description
This text assembles the evidence of how democratic institutions and processes are changing and considers the larger implications of these reforms for the nature of democracy. The findings point to a new style of democratic politics that expands the nature of democracy.

Social Democracy Inside Out

Social Democracy Inside Out PDF Author: David Rueda
Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand
ISBN: 0199216355
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 260

Book Description
A controversial new analysis of the relationship between social democratic governments and labor. The book will make a major contribution to the comparative political economy of industrialized democracies.

Party Politics in New Democracies

Party Politics in New Democracies PDF Author: Paul Webb
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191537268
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 400

Book Description
Comparative Politics is a series for students and teachers of political science that deals with contemporary government and politics. The General Editors are Professor Alfio Mastropaolo, University of Turin and Kenneth Newton, University of Southampton and Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin . The series is published in association with the European Consortium for Political Research. The sister volume to Political Parties in Advanced Industrial Democracies, this book offers a systematic and rigorous analysis of parties in some of the world's major new democracies. Drawing on a wealth of expertise and data, the book assesses the popular legitimacy, organizational development and functional performance of political parties in Latin America and postcommunist Eastern Europe. It demonstrates the generational differences between parties in the old and new democracies, and reveals contrasts among the latter. Parties are shown to be at their most feeble in those recently transitional democracies characterized by personalistic, candidate-centred forms of politics, but in other new democracies - especially those with parliamentary systems - parties are more stable and institutionalized, enabling them to facilitate a meaningful degree of popular choice and control. Wherever party politics is weakly institutionalized, political inequality tends to be greater, commitment to pluralism less certain, clientelism and corruption more pronounced, and populist demagoguery a greater temptation. Without party, democracy's hold is more tenuous.