Comparative Politics
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Political parties are the central institution through which mass representative democracies now work. They alone present voters with coherent policy alternatives in elections and effect them in government if elected. If we justify democracy in terms of its production of governments which are uniquely sensitive and responsive to popular preferences, it is through the political parties that it operates and from them that the special characteristics of the system derive How exactly do parties operate in government? There is much uncertainty about this, even on such basic questions as how coalition governments form in the first place and on what criteria they distribute government ministries among their members. Nor is it clear how parties influence government policy; or whether governments eventually break down because of disagreements on policy or for tactical or electoral reasons. "Parties and Democracy" gives clear answers to these questions by looking at the actual behaviour of some 500 governments in 20 post-war democracies.
Their conclusion that parties do function in accordance with modern democratic theory will serve to put moral justifications of democracy and descriptions of the system on a firmer footing.
Their conclusion that parties do function in accordance with modern democratic theory will serve to put moral justifications of democracy and descriptions of the system on a firmer footing.
This bold venture into political theory and comparative politics combines traditional concerns about democracy with modern analytical methods. It asks how contemporary democracies work, an essential stage in asking how they can be justified. An answer to both questions is found in the idea of the median mandate. The voter in the middle - the voice of the majority - empowers the centre party in parliament to translate his or her preferences into public policy. The
median mandate provides a unified theory of democracy - pluralist, consensus, majoritarian, liberal, and populist - by replacing each qualified 'vision' with an integrated account of how representative institutions work. The unified theory is put to the test with comprehensive cross-national evidence
covering 21 democracies from 1950 through to 1995.
This exciting book will be of interest to specialists and general readers alike, representing as it does a reaffirmation of traditional democratic practice in an uncertain and threatening world.
Comparative Politics is a series for students and teachers of political science that deals with contemporary government and politics. The General Editors are Max Kaase, Professor of Political Science, Vice President and Dean, School of Humanities and Social Science, International University, Bremen, Germany; and Kenneth Newton, Professor of Comparative Politics, University of Southampton. The series is published in association with the European Consortium for Political
Research.
median mandate provides a unified theory of democracy - pluralist, consensus, majoritarian, liberal, and populist - by replacing each qualified 'vision' with an integrated account of how representative institutions work. The unified theory is put to the test with comprehensive cross-national evidence
covering 21 democracies from 1950 through to 1995.
This exciting book will be of interest to specialists and general readers alike, representing as it does a reaffirmation of traditional democratic practice in an uncertain and threatening world.
Comparative Politics is a series for students and teachers of political science that deals with contemporary government and politics. The General Editors are Max Kaase, Professor of Political Science, Vice President and Dean, School of Humanities and Social Science, International University, Bremen, Germany; and Kenneth Newton, Professor of Comparative Politics, University of Southampton. The series is published in association with the European Consortium for Political
Research.