Party governance and party democracy : festschrift to Kaare Strøm

Given the centrality of political parties in modern democracies, most research on these systems either directly address their internal functioning and activities or question their critical role. Political science has moved from describing institutions to the thorough analysis of behavior within these institutions and the interactions between them. The inevitable consequences of the maturing and institutionalization of the discipline of political science in many countries include the forming of sub-fields and specialized research communities. At the same time the number of democracies has vastly increased since the 1980s and although not each attempt at democratization was eventually successful, more heterogeneous systems with some form of party competition exist than ever before. As a consequence, the literature addressing the large issues of party democracy spreads over many research fields and has become difficult to master for individual students of party democracy and party governance. The present volume sets out to review the behavior and larger role of political parties in modern democracies. In so doing the book takes its departure from the idea that the main contribution of political parties to the working of democracy is their role as vehicles of political competition in systems of government. Consequently the focus is not merely in the internal functioning of political parties, but rather their behavior the electoral, legislative, and governmental arenas. Thus several chapters address how political parties perform within the existing institutional frameworks. One more chapter looks at the role of political parties in building and adapting these institutions. Finally, two chapters explicitly address the party contributions to democracy in established and new democracies, respectively.​​ Party Governance and Party Democracy -- Wolfgang C. Müller, Hanne Marthe Narud Government Formation in Parliamentary Democracies -- Benjamin Nyblade How Parties Govern: Political Parties and the Internal Organization of Government -- Torbjörn Bergman, Alejandro Ecker Economic Performance, Political Institutions and Cabinet Durability in 28 European Parliamentary Democracies, 1945-2011 -- Thomas Saalfeld Electoral Responsiveness, Party Government, and the Imperfect Performance of Democratic Elections -- G. Bingham Powell Parties in Parliament: The Blurring of Opposition -- Rudy B. Andeweg Parliamentary Party Groups: To Whom is the Midfield Accountable? -- Knut Heidar Parliamentary Voting -- Simon Hug Citizens' Confidence in European Parliaments: Institutions and Issues -- Karin Dyrstad, Ola Listhaug Structural Determinants of Party Choice: The Changing Impact of Socio-Structure Variables on Party Choice in Comparative Perspective -- Oddbjørn Knutsen Political Parties and Constitutional Change -- Shane Martin, Bjørn Erik Rasch The Change of Party-State Relations in Advanced Democracies: A Party-Specific Development or Broader Societal Trend? -- Nicole Bolleyer Party Development in the Old World: And in the New -- Lars Svåsand. Front Matter....Pages i-x Party Governance and Party Democracy....Pages 1-12 Government Formation in Parliamentary Democracies....Pages 13-31 How Parties Govern: Political Parties and the Internal Organization of Government....Pages 33-50 Economic Performance, Political Institutions and Cabinet Durability in 28 European Parliamentary Democracies, 1945–2011....Pages 51-79 Electoral Responsiveness, Party Government, and the Imperfect Performance of Democratic Elections....Pages 81-97 Parties in Parliament: The Blurring of Opposition....Pages 99-114 Parliamentary Party Groups: To Whom is the Midfield Accountable?....Pages 115-136 Parliamentary Voting....Pages 137-157 Citizens’ Confidence in European Parliaments: Institutions and Issues....Pages 159-174 Structural Determinants of Party Choice: The Changing Impact of Socio-Structure Variables on Party Choice in Comparative Perspective....Pages 175-203 Political Parties and Constitutional Change....Pages 205-229 The Change of Party–State Relations in Advanced Democracies: A Party–Specific Development or Broader Societal Trend?....Pages 231-252 Party Development in the Old World: And in the New....Pages 253-274 Back Matter....Pages 275-276