Ideology, Strategy and Party Change: Spatial Analyses of Post-War Election Programmes in 19 Democracies

Cambridge University Press
Edition: First Edition, 7/9/1987
EAN 9780521306485, ISBN10: 0521306485

Hardcover, 516 pages, 22.8 x 15.2 x 3.3 cm
Language: English

The relevance of this book to central concerns of political and social science hardly needs emphasizing. Parties are the organizing force of democratic governments, giving coherence and direction to their policies and relating them to popular preferences. Election programmes are crucial to this role, providing electors with some insight into the policies they are voting for, and parties themselves with a starting point for their activity in government. Discussion begins with a comparative assessment of the impact of election pledges on government action. The book goes on to describe systematically the place of the programmes in the political process of nineteen democracies. It subjects them to detailed qualitative, quantitative and spatial analyses to answer such questions as: Who prepares election programmes and how? What is the nature of modern party divisions? Do they differ across countries? Is there indeed an 'end of ideology' or an intensification? Does the need to attract votes weaken old partisan attachments? Combining individual studies of each country with comparative analyses on a scale never previously undertaken, the book will interest country specialists and comparativists and prove indispensable to research on voting and party behaviour, coalition formation, ideology, and rational choice.

1. Influence of election programmes
Britain and Canada 1945–1979 Colin Rallings
2. The internal analysis of election programmes Ian Budge
3. Britain, Australia, New Zealand and the United States 1946–1981, an initial comparative analysis David Robertson
4. Canada 1945–1980
party platforms and campaign strategies William P. Irvine
5. Sri Lanka 1947–1977
elite programmes and mass politics Judith Bara
6. Israel 1949–1981 Judith Bara
7. Ireland 1948–1981
issues, parties, strategies Peter Mair
8. Northern Ireland 1921–1973
party manifestos and platforms Michael Laver
9. Sweden and Denmark 1945–1982
election programmes in the Scandinavian setting Margareta Holmstedt and Tove-Lise Schou
10. The Netherlands 1946–81 Karl Dittrich
11. Belgium 1946–1981 Derek J. Hearl
12. Luxembourg 1945–1982
dimensions and strategies Derek J. Hearl
13. Austria 1945–1978 Franz Horner
14. Electoral programmes in West Germany 1949–1980
explorations in the nature of political controversy Hans-Dieter Klingemann
15. France 1958–1981
the strategy of joint government platforms François Pétry
16. Italy 1946–1979
ideological distances and party movements Alfio Mastropaolo
17. Japan 1960–1980
party programmes in elections Takashi Inoguchi
18. Do parties differ, and how? Comparative discriminant and factor analyses Ian Budge and David Robertson
Appendices
General bibliography.