Elections and Voting Behaviour: New Challenges, New Perspectives(International Library of Politics & Comparative Government)

A restoration of democracy in Western Europe followed the end of World War II, along with the rise of newly independent states such as India, Israel and the Philippines. The most recent wave of democratization occured with the transitions which began in the mid 1970s in Mediterranean Europe, spreading to Latin and Central America, before accelerating in the late 1980s in Central and Eastern Europe, South East Asia and eventually Africa. This democratization has gradually transformed the traditional understanding of elections. This collection of essays looks at how the inclusion of a wider range of countries is deepening insights into the dynamics of electoral change. Theories which originated in America and Western Europe are often used to understand political behaviour in new democracies. These essays aim to explore voting behaviour from a more global perspective, as the analysis often reveals the limitations of established notions of electoral behaviour.

Table of Contents:
Part 1 The partisan identities of voters: on party attachment in Western Europe and the utility of Eurobarometer data, Hermann Schmitt; European party loyalties revisited, Bradley M. Richardson; the place of "party" in post-Communist Europe, Matthew Wyman et al. Part 2 Social cleavages, new politics and value change: electoral change in Western countries - consequences of post-industrial social change, Mark N. Franklin and Thomas T. Mackie; the changing politics of women - gender, and political alignment in Western democracies, David DeVaus and Ian McAllister; economic security and value change, Ronald Inglehart and Paul R. Abramson; new party versus old left realignments - environmental attitudes, party policies and partisan affiliations in four West European countries, Robert Rohrschneider. Part 3 Economic voting: comparative economic voting - Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Michael Lewis-Beck; a cross-national analysis of economic voting - taking account of the political context, G. Bingham Powell Jr. and Guy D. Whitten; the political economy of competitive elections in the developing world, Alexander Pacek and Benjamin Radcliff. Part 4 The institutional context of electoral systems: the political consequences of electoral laws, 1945-85, Arend Lijphart; what voters teach us about Europe-wide elections - what Europe-wide elections teach us about voters, Caes van der Eijk et al. Part 5 Campaign communications: political balance on television - campaigns in the United States, Britain and Germany, Holli Semetko; 120 years of Swedish election campaigns, Peter Esaiasson. Part 6 Political participation: voter turnout in the industrial democracies during the 1980s, Robert Jackman and R.A. Miller; beyond SES - a resource model of political participation, Henry E. Brady et al; bowling alone - America's declining social capital, Robert D. Putnam. Part 7 Political representation: political parties and political representation, Russell J. Dalton; political representation in Sweden, Soren Holmberg; the public as thermostat - dynamics of preferences for spending, Christopher Wlezien; May's law of curvilinear disparity revisited - leaders, officers, members and voters in British political parties, Pippa Norris. Part 8 Elections and democratization: the social requisites of democracy revisited, Seymour Martin Lipset; the politics and economics of democratic commitment - support for democracy in transition societies, Geoffrey Evans and Stephen Whitefield.