Policy, Office, or Votes?

How Political Parties in Western Europe Make Hard Decisions
Erscheinungsjahr 2005
ISBN: 978-0-521-63723-7
Verlag: Cambridge University Press

Buch, Englisch, 332 Seiten, Paperback, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm, Gewicht: 547 g

Reihe: Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics

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.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Bates, Robert H.

Müller, Wolfgang C.

Lange, Peter

Strøm, Kaare

Strom, Kaare

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Politikwissenschaft Politische Systeme Demokratie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Figures; Tables; Contributors; 1. Political parties and hard choices Kaare Strøm and Wolfgang C. Müller; 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 Jørgen 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. Müller; 8. Leadership accountability and bargaining failure in Norway: the Presthus debacle Kaare Strøm; 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 Torbjörn Bergman; 11. Parliamentary rules and party behaviour during minority government in France John D. Huber; 12. Conclusions: party behaviour and representative democracy Wolfgang C. Müller and Kaare Strøm; Index.