Political Parties: (International Library of Politics & Comparative Government)

This review examines the function, structure, policy, and power of political parties. Essays include an examination of parties in western democracies, the organization of parties and how they have evolved, factions and internal politics within parties, and political strategy.

Table of Contents:
Part 1 Parties and what they do: the function of political parties - a critique of the literature and the approach, Howard A. Scarrow (1967); political parties in Western democracies - some skeptical reflections, Anthony King (1969); political parties - the functional and structural approach, William R. Schonfeld (1983). Part 2 Party organization: formalizing and testing Duverger's theories on political parties, Kenneth Janda and Desmond S. King (1985); on the theory of party organizations, Joseph A. Schlesinger (1984); political parties - organization and power, Angelo Panebianco (1988); the "paradox of enrollment" - assessing the costs and benefits of party memberships, Susan E. Scarrow (1994); the evolution of party organizations in Europe - the three faces of party organization, Richard S. Katz and Peter Mair (1993). Part 3 The internal politics: opinion structure of political parties - the special law of curvilinear disparity, John May (1973); the internal politics of parties - the law of curvilinear disparity revisited, Herbert Kitschelt (1989); factionalism in West European political parties - a framework for analysis, David Hine (1982). Part 4 New parties: formation and success of new political parties - a cross-national analysis, R. Harmel and J.D. Rovertson (1995); the silent counter-revolution - hypotheses on the emergence of extreme right-wing parties in Europe, Thomas Poguntke (1987). Part 5 Adaptation and change: party decline in the West - a skeptic's view, H.L. Reiter (1989); an integrated theory of party goals and party change, Robert Harmel and Kenneth Janda (1994); recasting social democracy in Europe - a nested games explanation of strategic adjustment in political parties, T.A. Koelbe (1992); class structure and social democratic party strategy, H. Kitschelt (1993); party system change - the catch-all thesis revisited, Steven B. Wolinetz (1989); changing models of party organization and party democracy - parties and policy, Katz and Mair (1995). Part 6 Parties and policy: activist-leader relations and the structure of political parties - "exchange" models and vote-seeking behaviour in parties, A. Ware (1992); parties, programmes and policies - a comparative and theoretical perspective, Ian Budge (1993); political parties and macroeconomic policy, D.A. Hibbs (1977).