Policy, Office, or Votes?
How Political Parties in Western Europe Make Hard Decisions
Published on 28. August 1999
Book
Paperback/Softback
336 pages
978-0-521-63723-7 (ISBN)
Description
Leaders of political parties often have to choose between conflicting objectives, such as influence on policy, control of the government, and support among the voters. This book examines the behaviour of political parties in situations where they experience conflict between two or more important objectives. The volume contains a theoretical introduction and case studies of party leaders in Germany, Italy, France and Spain as well as six smaller European democracies. Each case focuses on the behaviour of one of several parties in situations of goal conflict, such as the 'historic compromise' in Italy, the 1982 Wende in West Germany, the making of the new Swedish constitution in the 1970s, and the termination of the Austrian 'black-red' grand coalition. In their conclusions, the editors discuss how such leadership decisions can be understood and examine the causes of different choices among party leaders.
Reviews / Votes
"...This book demonstrates that the notions of parties as seekers of office,votes,or policy can enhance understanding of these democratic organizations. This volume is highly recomended to enrich collections on comparative politics." "The main virtues of this book are...the astute way in which the editors have identified a theoretically important matter that requires a preliminary empirical survey and the professionalism with which the authors of the case studies have set about their tasks. This is...essential reading for those who have ambitions to build more complex models of party competition. It is also an attractive supplementary text for those teaching courses on party competition." Michael Laver, Political Science ReviewMore details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
24 Tables, unspecified; 10 Line drawings, unspecified
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 20 mm
Weight
547 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-521-63723-7 (9780521637237)
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
Persons
Content
Figures; Tables; Contributors; 1. Political parties and hard choices Kaare Strom and Wolfgang C. Mueller; 2. Office, votes and then policy: hard choices for political parties in the Republic of Ireland, 1981-1992 Michael Marsh and Paul Mitchell; 3. Party behaviour and the formation of minority coalition governments: Danish experiences from the 1970s and 1980s Jorgen Elklit; 4. From policy-seeking to office-seeking: the metamorphosis of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party Donald Share; 5. Changing strategies: the dilemma of the Dutch Labour Party Ron Hillebrand and Galen A. Irwin; 6. Party behaviour in a polarized system: the Italian Communist Party and the historic compromise Roberto D'Alimonte; 7. Decision for opposition: the Austrian Socialist Party's abandonment of government participation in 1966 Wolfgang C. Mueller; 8. Leadership accountability and bargaining failure in Norway: the Presthus debacle Kaare Strom; 9. Winner takes all: the FDP in 1982-1983: maximizing votes, office and policy? Thomas Poguntke; 10. Trade-offs in Swedish constitutional design: the monarchy under challenge Torbjoern Bergman; 11. Parliamentary rules and party behaviour during minority government in France John D. Huber; 12. Conclusions: party behaviour and representative democracy Wolfgang C. Mueller and Kaare Strom; Index.