Left Parties in National Governments

by Olsen, Jonathan; Koss, Michael; Hough, Daniel

• ISBN13: 9780230236509
• ISBN10: 0230236502
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-08-15
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

This book analyzes why Left Parties enter national government, what they do when they get there and what effect this has on them. Alongside two comparative chapters, this book features detailed case-studies of European Left Parties in government.

Author Biography

JONATHAN OLSEN is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, USA. He has published widely on German and European politics and is the author of Nature and Nationalism: Right-Wing Ecology and the Politics of Identity in Contemporary Germany (1999) and (with Dan Hough and Michael Koß) The Left Party in Contemporary German Politics (2007) 
 
MICHAEL KOSS is Lecturer in Politics at the University of Potsdam, Germany. He has published widely on political parties, comparative European politics and left-wing politics. He has recently published on the evolution of party funding regimes in Western Europe and is author of The Left Party in Contemporary German Politics (2007).

DAN HOUGH is Senior Lecturer in Politics at the University of Sussex, UK. He has published widely on political parties, German politics, multi-level politics and left-wing politics. He has recently published a textbook on German politics (The Politics of the New Germany, 2007) and is author of The Left Party in Contemporary German Politics (2007).

Table of Contents

List of Tables	p. vii
List of Abbreviations	p. viii
List of Contributors	p. xi
From Pariahs to Players? Left Parties in National Governments	p. 1
The Norwegian Socialist Left Party: Office-seekers in the Service of Policy?	p. 16
The French Extreme Left and Its Suspicion of Power	p. 33
Between a Rock and a Hard Place: the Governing Dilemmas of Rifondazione Comunista	p. 52
A Poisoned Chalice? Finland's Left Alliance and the Perils of Government	p. 69
The Spanish United Left - The Belated And Troublesome Transition from Policy - to Office-seeking	p. 87
Close to, but Still Out of, Government: The Swedish Vänsterpartiet	p. 105
The Danish Socialist People's Party: Still Waiting After all These Years	p. 121
From Pariah to Prospective Partner? The German Left Party's Winding Path towards Government	p. 138
Ready to Get Their Hands Dirty: The Socialist party and GroenLinks in the Netherlands	p. 155
Conclusion: Left Parties in National Governments	p. 173
Bibliography	p. 186
Index	p. 203
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