Democratic Partisanship
Party Activism in an Age of Democratic Crises
Published on 31. August 2025
Book
Paperback/Softback
256 pages
978-1-3995-1186-5 (ISBN)
Description
Political parties are caught in the crossfire of contemporary criticism. Some are accused of being excessively technocratic and removed from citizens' concerns, while others are attacked for their populist discourse and for pandering to the base instincts of constituents. But what ideal of partisanship do we have in mind when we blame parties for the ills of democracy? And how do real-world parties actually compare to this normative ideal? Democratic Partisanship bridges political theory and empirical study to answer these questions. It explores and compares how key democratic norms hailed by political theorists, such as good justification and respect for opponents, resonate with right-wing and left-wing party members in Hungary and France. Focusing on the partisan's perspective, the book explores how and why some party organisations reconcile the most contradictory democratic imperatives while others fail to uphold basic principles. Far from writing-off parties as intrinsically suspect, Democratic Partisanship makes an incisive case for a new partisan ethic in an age of democratic crises.
Reviews / Votes
I am deeply impressed by this staggeringly original book which brings together so successfully the all too rarely combined ingredients of normative democratic political theory and the forensic empirical analysis of individual cases. In the process Lise Herman illuminates the current precarious condition of democratic partisanship like no other. * Colin Hay, Sciences Po Paris *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Edinburgh
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Unsewn / adhesive bound
Illustrations
30 black and white illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 14 mm
Weight
363 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-3995-1186-5 (9781399511865)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Lise Esther Herman is Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of Exeter. She is the author of (with Julian Hoerner and Joseph Lacey J, 'Why does the European Right accommodate backsliding states? An analysis of 24 European People's Party votes (2011-2019)', European Political Science Review, Online First, 2021; 'Can Partisans be Pluralist? A comparative study of party member discourse in France and Hungary', British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 23 (1), 2020 and (with Russell Muirhead), 'Resisting Abusive Legalism: Electoral Fairness and the Partisan Commitment to Political Pluralism', Representation, Online First, 2020.
Content
Acknowledgements
List of Tables and Figures
Chapter 1: The dual narrative of party crisis
Parties under Fire, but what for?
Bridging the divide between theory and empirics
Chapter 2: A theory of democratic partisanship
On liberal democracy and partisanship
Ideological cohesiveness: The democratic condition
Respect for pluralism: The liberal condition
A realistic ideal?
Chapter 3: Studying Partisanship in Context
Facilitating party member discussions
Interpreting partisan discourse
Comparing parties across borders 58
Chapter 4: Democracy through the partisan lens
Party politics in France and Hungary
An academic in the partisan arena
The partisan view on party democracy
Key findings
Chapter 5: The cohesiveness of partisan identity
French partisans between substance and dissonance
Hungarian partisans in search of ideological grounding
Key findings
Chapter 6: Partisan respect for pluralism
The limits of exemplary pluralism in France
The threat of intolerant holism in Hungary
Key findings
Chapter 7: Democracy in partisan custody
Democratic partisanship as an empirical practice
Back to the ideal of democratic partisanship
The future of party democracy
Appendix 1: Discussion guidelines
References
List of Tables and Figures
Chapter 1: The dual narrative of party crisis
Parties under Fire, but what for?
Bridging the divide between theory and empirics
Chapter 2: A theory of democratic partisanship
On liberal democracy and partisanship
Ideological cohesiveness: The democratic condition
Respect for pluralism: The liberal condition
A realistic ideal?
Chapter 3: Studying Partisanship in Context
Facilitating party member discussions
Interpreting partisan discourse
Comparing parties across borders 58
Chapter 4: Democracy through the partisan lens
Party politics in France and Hungary
An academic in the partisan arena
The partisan view on party democracy
Key findings
Chapter 5: The cohesiveness of partisan identity
French partisans between substance and dissonance
Hungarian partisans in search of ideological grounding
Key findings
Chapter 6: Partisan respect for pluralism
The limits of exemplary pluralism in France
The threat of intolerant holism in Hungary
Key findings
Chapter 7: Democracy in partisan custody
Democratic partisanship as an empirical practice
Back to the ideal of democratic partisanship
The future of party democracy
Appendix 1: Discussion guidelines
References