Political Parties in Advanced Industrial Democracies

by Webb, Paul; Farrell, David M.; Holliday, Ian

• ISBN13: 9780199240555
• ISBN10: 0199240558
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-04-10
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

How relevant and vital are political parties in contemporary democracies? Do they fulfill the functions that any stable and effective democracy might expect of them, or are they little more than moribund anachronisms, relics of a past age of political life, now superseded by other mechanismsof linkage between state and society? These are the central questions which this book aims to address through a rigorous comparative analysis of political parties operating in the world's advanced industrial democracies. Drawing on the expertise of an impressive team of internationally knownspecialists, the book engages systematically with the evidence to show that, while a degree of popular cynicism towards them is often chronic, though rarely acute, parties have adapted and survived as organizations, remodelling themselves to the needs of an era in which patterns of linkage andcommunication with social groups have been transformed. This has enabled them to remain central to democratic systems, especially in respect of the political functions of governance, recruitment and, albeit more problematically, interest aggregation. On the other hand, the challenges they face inrespect of interest articulation, communication and participation have pushed parties into more marginal roles within Western political systems. The implications of these findings for democracy depend on the observer's normative and theoretical perspectives. Those who understand democracy primarilyin terms of popular choice and control in public affairs will probably see parties as continuing to play a central role, while those who place greater store by the more demanding criteria of optimizing interests and instilling civic orientations among citizens are far more likely to be fundamentallycritical. Comparative Politics is a series for students and teachers of political science that deals with contemporary issues in comparative government and politics. The General Editors are Max Kaase, Vice President and Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences, International University Bremen, and KennethNewton, Professor of Government at Southampton University. The series is published in association with the European Consortium for Political Research.

Table of Contents

List of Figures	ix
List of Tables	x
Notes on Contributors	xiv
1 Introduction: Political Parties in Advanced Industrial Democracies	1	(15)
Paul Webb
2 Political Parties in Britain: Secular Decline or Adaptive Resilience?	16	(30)
Paul Webb
3 Italian Parties: Change and Functionality	46	(31)
Luciano Bardi
4 Party Decline in the Parties State? The Changing Environment of German Politics	77	(30)
Susan E. Scarrow
5 France: Never a Golden Age	107	(44)
Andrew Knapp
6 The Colour Purple: The End of Predictable Politics in the Low Countries	151	(30)
Kris Deschouwer
7 The Scandinavian Party Model at the Crossroads	181	(36)
Jan Sundberg
8 Party Politics in Ireland: Regularizing a Volatile System	217	(31)
R. J. Murphy and David M. Farrell
9 Spain: Building a Parties State in a New Democracy	248	(32)
Ian Holliday
10 Parties at the European Level	280	(30)
Simon Hix
11 Still Functional After All These Years: Parties in the United States, 1960-2000	310	(35)
John C. Green
12 Canada's Nineteenth-Century Cadre Parties at the Millennium	345	(34)
R. Kenneth Carty
13 Political Parties in Australia: Party Stability in a Utilitarian Society	379	(30)
Ian McAllister
14 Parties and Society in New Zealand	409	(29)
Jack Vowles
15 Conclusion: Political Parties and Democratic Control in Advanced Industrial Societies	438
Paul Webb
Index	461
0268029563
FOREWORD
Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C.	xi
REFLECTION ON COMMENCEMENT
Edward A. Malloy, C.S.C.	xiii
PREFACE	xv
INTRODUCTION: COMMENCEMENT SPEECHES AND SPEAKERS AT NOTRE DAME	1	(284)
WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN (1865)
Perform Bravely the Battle of Life	44	(4)
WILLIAM J. ONAHAN (1876)
The Catholic Citizen and the State	48	(10)
JOHN LANCASTER SPALDING (1886)
Growth and Duty	58	(18)
ROBERT SETON (1893)
The Dignity of Labor	76	(14)
CHARLES J. BONAPARTE (1904)
Some Thoughts for American Catholics	90	(16)
JOSEPH CHARTRAND (1917)
Education's Grandest Work	106	(8)
WILLIAM J. DONOVAN (1929)
Science, Civilization, and the Individual	114	(8)
JOSEPH P. KENNEDY (1941)
Conscience, Patriotism, and Freedom of Speech	122	(12)
CHARLES H. MALIK (1952)
The American Question	134	(8)
JOHN A. MCCONE (1959)
The Atomic Energy Commission and the University	142	(10)
DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER (1960)
Beyond the Campus	152	(8)
ROBERT SARGENT SHRIVER, JR. (1961)
The Peace Corps and Higher Education	160	(10)
MCGEORGE BUNDY (1965)
American Power and Responsibility	170	(6)
EUGENE MCCARTHY (1967)
The Educated Person on Trial	176	(8)
DANIEL PATRICK MOYNIHAN (1969)
Politics as the Art of the Impossible	184	(10)
JIMMY CARTER (1977)
Foreign Policy and Human Rights	194	(10)
RONALD REAGAN (1981)
Great Years Ahead for Our Country	204	(10)
JOSEPH BERNARDIN (1983)
The Challenge of Peace	214	(10)
JOSE NAPOLEON DUARTE (1985)
The Struggle for Democracy	224	(12)
ANDREW YOUNG (1988)
Let God and History Take You	236	(8)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE (1995)
The Role of the Educated Person	244	(10)
MARY ANN GLENDON (1996)
Religion and a Democratic Society	254	(8)
KOFI A. ANNAN (2000)
World Poverty and Our Common Humanity	262	(6)
GEORGE W. BUSH (2001)
A Caring Society	268	(8)
MOTHER TERESA OF CALCUTTA
Letter to the Graduating Class of 1986	276	(4)
THEODORE M. HESBURGH, C.S.C.
Charge to the Class of 1987	280	(5)
APPENDIX: LIST OF COMMENCEMENT SPEAKERS	285