In 1991 Taiwan held its first fully democratic election. This first single volume of party politics in Taiwan analyzes the evolution of party competition in the country, looking at how Taiwan's parties have adjusted to their new multi-party election environment. It features key chapters on: the development of party politics in Taiwan the impact of party change on social welfare, corruption and national identity party politics in the DPP era. Including interviews with high-ranking Taiwanese politicians and material on the 2004 Presidential election, this important work brings the literature up-to-date. It provides a valuable resource for scholars of Chinese and Taiwanese politics and a welcome addition to the field of regime transition and democratization.

This volume examines the evolution of the British Labour Party's defense and security policies since the party's formation in 1900. It concentrates on the last decade, which has witnessed a gradual transformation from unilateral nuclear disarmament and the removal of U.S. nuclear bases from UK soil to retention of the British nuclear deterrent and support for NATO's new nuclear and conventional strategies. The authors examine in detail how defense policy, in particular nuclear disarmament, was Labour's Achilles' heel in the 1983 and 1987 general elections and how the party fundamentally changed its defense and security policies after its third successive election defeat. Furthermore, changes in the international environment have spurred Labour to reexamine its policies in this area and to realize that these policies would condemn the party to internal opposition. As a result, Labour now has a pragmatic set of defense and security policies relevant to the 1990s, as evidenced by the party's robust position on the Gulf War, its support for Britain's nuclear deterrent, and its welcome of the London Declaration following the NATO summit in July 1990. In explaining Labour's internal debates in recent years, Bruce George has few peers. He gives a detailed insider's account of the infighting and ideological battles within the Labour Party that will be valuable for anyone interested in knowing how the United Kingdom's foreign policy might change (or remain virtually the same) under non-Conservative leadership.

"Spain woke me up politically. I rediscovered democracy, the power that can come from people working together when a popular front is not just a manoeuvre but a reality." Drawing on his political and fighting experience in the Spanish Civil War, Tom Wintringham wrote the best-seller New Ways of War - a do-it-yourself guide to killing people - but also a highly subversive call for a socialist revolution. He called for 'a Peoples war' and the phrase stuck. Recalling the English Civil war he likened the Home Guard he trained in guerrilla warfare to the New Model Army and later he helped found Common Wealth, a political party more radical in some ways than Labour. His finest hour was 1940 when he inspired his countrymen to resist invasion. ... After gaining exclusive access to the Wintringham archive, now in the Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives, historian Hugh Purcell published a biography of this uniquely English revolutionary (Sutton Publishing, 2004). Working with Phyll Smith, librarian in Wintringham's home town of Grimsby, they have since discovered a wealth of historical firsts, including: the actual leaflet Wintringham wrote that led the prosecution case in the infamous treason trial of the Communist Party leadership in 1925; and additional evidence that in the summer of 1936 Wintringham was already propagating the idea of an 'international legion' to fight for Republican Spain. Churchill coined his own expletive as in 'I refuse to be Wintringhamed'; Hemingway wrote his only play, Fifth Column, based on Wintringham and his lover, a supposed 'Trotskyite spy'; and photographs show Orwell and Wintringham together in 1940 training for guerrilla warfare to resist a Nazi invasion - such was the dramatic imprint on history of this seminal figure, here revealed in an Enlarged, Revised and Updated edition.

Exploring a little known aspect of the history of the Third Reich, this text relates the struggle between party loyalists, who assumed that with the assumption of power in 1933 state control was theirs and diplomats in the Foreign Office, who viewed Hitler and his followers as representatives of a party that would disappear.

"The Political Economy of New Labour" provides one of the first systematic assessments and accessible evaluations of the modernization of the British Labour Party in the light of its landslide electoral victory in 1997. It also represents a rare attempt to locate Labour's modernization in terms of the distinctive political economy of contemporary British capitalism and the impact of globalization, the evolution and transformation of the British State in the post-war period, the legacy of Thatcherism, and the specifics of electoral strategy and competition in contemporary Britain. In doing so, it provides a genuinely interdisciplinary account and analysis of Labour's modernization and the strategic terrain within which this has been played out, as well as an assessment of the strategic alternatives available to a New Labour administration in an era of globalization, and an evaluation of the prospects for a decisive break with the Thatcher-Major legacy.

How do parties respond to the electorate and craft winning strategies? In the abstract parties are the vehicles to make democracy work, but it is often difficult to see the process working as well as we think it might. Indeed, voters often struggle to see parties as the valuable vehicles of representation that so many academics describe. There is a clear discrepancy between the ideal expressed in many textbooks and the reality that we see playing out in politics. Noted scholar Jeffrey Stonecash gives us a big picture analysis that helps us understand what is happening in contemporary party politics. He explains that parties behave the way they do because of existing political conditions and how parties adapt to those conditions as they prepare for the next election. Parties are unsure if realignment has stabilized and just what issues brought them their current base. Does a majority support their positions and how are they to react to ongoing social change? Is the electorate paying attention, and can parties get a clear message to those voters? This book focuses on the challenges parties face in preparing for future elections while seeking to cope with current conditions. This coping leads to indecisiveness of positioning, simplification of issues, repetition of messages, and efforts to disparage the reputation of the opposing party. Stonecash sheds much needed light on why parties engage in the practices that frustrate so many Americans.

How do parties respond to the electorate and craft winning strategies? In the abstract parties are the vehicles to make democracy work, but it is often difficult to see the process working as well as we think it might. Indeed, voters often struggle to see parties as the valuable vehicles of representation that so many academics describe. There is a clear discrepancy between the ideal expressed in many textbooks and the reality that we see playing out in politics. Noted scholar Jeffrey Stonecash gives us a big picture analysis that helps us understand what is happening in contemporary party politics. He explains that parties behave the way they do because of existing political conditions and how parties adapt to those conditions as they prepare for the next election. Parties are unsure if realignment has stabilized and just what issues brought them their current base. Does a majority support their positions and how are they to react to ongoing social change? Is the electorate paying attention, and can parties get a clear message to those voters? This book focuses on the challenges parties face in preparing for future elections while seeking to cope with current conditions. This coping leads to indecisiveness of positioning, simplification of issues, repetition of messages, and efforts to disparage the reputation of the opposing party. Stonecash sheds much needed light on why parties engage in the practices that frustrate so many Americans.

The shortest-serving prime minister in history. The first former leader to lose their seat since 1935. An inside look at how it all went so wrong.

Liz Truss's disastrous premiership was the shortest and most chaotic in British history. In the space of just 49 days, Truss witnessed the death of the longest-reigning monarch, attempted to remould the economy, triggered a collapse in the value of Sterling and was forced on a series of embarrassing U-turns that ultimately led to her resignation. The aftershocks of her time in office are still felt today. How did she blow her opportunity so spectacularly?

Based on exclusive interviews with key aides, allies and insiders, and focusing on the critical steps that led to her demise, this gripping behind-the-scenes work of contemporary history gives the definitive account of Truss's premiership.

This book is the product of many years’ research by Lodge, whose Black Politics in South Africa since 1945 (1983) established him as a leading commentator on South African politics, past and present.

2021 will mark the centenary of the foundation of the Communist Party of South Africa (CPSA) and today’s South African Communist Party (SACP, founded in 1953 after the proscription of the CPSA) will be extremely fortunate to have the milestone marked by a scholarly work of this calibre. Since 1994, many memoirs have been written by communists, and private archives have been donated to university and other collections. Significant official archives have been opened to scrutiny, particularly those of South Africa and the former Soviet Union. It is as if a notoriously secretive body has suddenly become confiding and confessional! While every chapter draws upon original material of this sort, such evidence is supported, amplified, illuminated and challenged by the scholarship of others: the breadth of secondary sources used by the author reflects what may well be an unrivalled familiarity with the scholarly literature on political organisations and resistance in twentieth century South Africa.

Lodge provides a richly detailed history of the Party’s vicissitudes and victories; individuals – their ideas, attitudes and activities – are sensitively located within their context; the text provides a fascinating sociology of the South African left over time. Lodge is adept at making explicit what the key questions and issues are for different periods; and he answers these with analyses and conclusions that are judicious, clearly stated, and meticulously argued.

Without doubt, this book will become a central text for students of communism in South Africa, of the Party’s links with Russia and the socialist bloc, and of the Communist Party’s changing relations with African nationalism – before, during and after three decades of exile.

This book explores the role played by the Female Section of the Spanish Fascist Party (Seccion Femenina de la Falange -- SF) in promoting women's political and professional rights within the authoritarian Franco regime in Spain. While acknowledging the organisational and financial ties, as well as the great ideological affinity between the SF and the regime, Inbal Ofer demonstrates how the SF's national leadership promoted an autonomous social and political agenda. Despite the need to constantly manoeuvre between the cultural and legal dictates of Francoist society, the unique activities and personal experiences of SF members at the heart of political power became a model for an array of policies and reforms that greatly improved the lives of Spanish women. From a unique gender perspective the topic of the Seccion Femenina de la Falange contributes to the debate on the nature of authoritarian regimes by reflecting on issues of policy formation and implementation; mass mobilisation; and the role of coercion alongside the creation of a "culture of consent". In exchange for a long-term commitment to the survival of the regime, both the Catholic Church and the Spanish Falange gained considerable administrative power and a measure of freedom to act on political and social matters. As explained, the promotion of women's legal and political equality (reflected in the struggle to amend the Civil Code and ratify the Law for Political and Professional Rights) is a good example of the way organs within the "regime" made use of their position in order to legitimise non-consensual forms of activism. The SF efforts to increase the number of gainfully employed women and improve their working-conditions is an example of the unexpected uses made by agents of the "regime" of the freedom of action accorded them in the public arena. Inbal Ofer raises questions regarding the nature of women's political activism and capacity for autonomous action within authoritarian regimes, setting out the debate on the nature of feminism and its relation to female activism and the promotion of women as a collective. More specifically she engages with those works that critically evaluate women's public contribution within Catholic and / or nationalist settings, and is required reading for interested in the history of modern Europe.

As a survey of the most current and significant issues affecting party politics in the United States, "The Parties Respond "has become a standard for reference and college course use. Mark Brewer and L. Sandy Maisel draw together leading scholars for thirteen original essays. The topics addressed include partisanship in the electorate, parties and the media revolution, the campaign and election process, and parties in government. The fifth edition is significantly revised with twelve new chapters, bringing each of these topics up to date for the modern political arena and highlighting the many changes in party politics over the past ten years.

Presidential transitions offer the chance for new ideas, policies, and people to inhabit the White House. Transitions have triggered policy change for decades and eager interest groups have sought ways to capitalize on this often chaotic phase of US politics. President-Elect Barack Obama declared that lobbyists would be forbidden from serving his transition and issued stiff regulations and rules to limit their access to the planning for his White House. Yet even though Obama's efforts mirror previous Presidents anti-lobbyist efforts, all Presidential transitions provide certain channels of influence, and Obama himself chose the head of a powerful and politically oriented think tank, the Center for American Progress, to run his transition. New Presidents need the information, ideas, and political capital that groups possess. Thus a curious paradox. Using an innovative mixed methodology integrating a historical analysis of original documents, original interviews with over 40 interest group leaders and transition leaders, a survey of 300 interest groups and content analysis of 300 interest group letters, Lobbying the New President uncovers the politics of interest group influence during Presidential transitions. In doing so, Heath Brown asks: Was the role played by Heritage in 1980 and CAP in 2008 indicative of a pattern of influence during the transition phase? Or have Presidents effectively shielded themselves from outside influence at the earliest point of their time in office? What can we learn about the larger study of interest groups and the Presidency from a focus on the transition phase? This book is a valuable resource that goes beyond the field of presidency studies which American politics scholars as well as public policy specialists should not go without.

The Islamic revolutionary movement Hezbollah has become most powerful source of radical militancy in the Middle East, more dangerous to its enemies than Hamas or even al Qaeda. It has forged a mass following and global appeal. Twice Hezbollah has defeated Israel in conventional wars, and its leader has become the most popular man in the Arab world. This book, blending first- person narrative with thoughtful exposition, offers the first close look at the men and women whose fervor has made Lebanon's Party of God the gold standard for violent movements across the region and the world. This book will be required reading for anyone who wishes to fully understand Hezbollah's grave threat to Israel and the West. Through deep and vivid portraits of men and women who do Hezbollah's grassroots work - on the battlefields, in politics, in nightclubs and scout troops - Cambanis puts a human face on the movement that has ushered in a militant renaissance and inspired fighters in Gaza, the West Bank, Egypt, Iraq and beyond.

This truly comparative volume examines the "life cycle" of party governments in Europe from 1990 onwards, and analyses its role and function in contemporary European parliamentary democracies.

The life and the performance of party governments in Europe became more and more volatile and publicly contested. In some cases, it has even challenge the democratic quality of the state. This book presents comparative analyses of party governments from formation and duration, to performance. It brings together some of the foremost scholars researching on party government to evaluate existing theories and compare both the developments in the Western and the new Eastern Europe in an empirically-grounded comparative analysis. The book discusses the interaction between various institutions, political parties and policies, and evaluates how institutional change and party behaviour can drive the "life cycle" of party government.

Party Government in the New Europe will be of interest to students and scholars of Comparative Politics, Democracy, Government and European Politics.

This book serves as a case study of the Sudanese Communist Party and its impact as a grassroots movement that championed the Sudanese people. It accomplishes this by providing a rich narrative that details the SCP's inception, main players, important milestones and values of the Party. In this narrative, the author not only delivers a comprehensive examination of the party components, he guides readers through their connections to one another, but also associates them, and the party, to Sudanese society at large. Using original party documents and interviews with leading figures, this book is the first time this subject has been detailed so extensively in one publication. It is also the only up-to-date work available on the subject and includes analysis of the most recent party congress and the division of the Sudan and creation of the newly independent Republic of South Sudan.

This book traces the positions of national partisan actors towards the development of the European polity in an in-depth comparative analysis covering all member states of the European Union over a period of 60 years. The author examines the approach of the social democratic, radical left, liberal, Christian democratic and radical right party families, eliciting a comprehensive analysis of partisan positions on European integration. Demonstrating that attitudes and programmatic changes towards European integration must be understood both as the product of long-term ideological traditions and domestic opposition or incumbency-seeking strategies, this book examines how far common ideological traditions lead to the emergence of convergent European policies. Based on an interdisciplinary approach that encompasses political science, history and area studies, this book provides background and analysis, and develops theory in an open and accessible style that expands the understanding of party behaviour. Using party programmes and quantitative data, the book reveals considerable cross-family variations regarding the extent to which parties' genetic origins shape partisan responses to Europe. The Impact of European Integration on Political Parties will be of interest to students and scholars of European politics, European integration, comparative politics and political parties.

This ground-breaking and innovative book examines the influence of charisma on power, authority and nationalism. The authors both apply and challenge Max Weber's concept of 'charisma' and integrate it into a broader discussion of other theoretical models. Using an interdisciplinary approach, leading international scholars draw on a diverse range of cases to analyse charisma in benign and malignant leaderships, as well as the relationship between the cult of the leader, the adulation of the masses and the extension of individual authority beyond sheer power. They discuss idiosyncratic authority and oratory, and they address how political, social and regional variations help explain concepts and policies which helped forge and reformulate nations, national identities and movements. The chapters on particular charismatic leaders cover Abraham Lincoln, Kemal Ataturk, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Gamal Nasser, Joerg Haider and Nelson Mandela. Political Leadership, Nations and Charisma will appeal to readers who are interested in history, sociology, political communication and nationalism studies.

This timely and insightful analysis of Conservative economic policymaking over the past half century covers the period from Ted Heath's assumption of the leadership through the Heath, Thatcher and Major governments and up to the early years of the coalition. As well as a offering a detailed commentary on the Conservative Party's macroeconomic and microeconomic policymaking for the past 50 years it also establishes a context for the controversial austerity measures implemented by the Conservative-led Coalition that established in the wake of Britain's inconclusive general election of 2010. This is a fascinating insight into policymaking within the Conservative Party as well as an indicator of the extent to which competing conservative philosophies have impacted on the policies pursued. At a time when the Conservative Party and economic policymaking loom large on the political landscape, this book is an invaluable contribution to present debates.

Contrary to the American public image of international communism as monolithic, the history of communism has been one of increasingly frequent deviation and dissension--punctuated by a process of defection and expulsion of individuals and entire national parties. In examining the fragmentation of communism as a movement, Bernard S. Morris focuses on the breakdown of its structure of authority as exercised through the organs of control. He analyzes factors contributing to the initial cohesion and later disintegration of the communist movement. The author demonstrates how the artificial attempt to maintain the Marxian vision of world revolution through the agency of the Soviet system faltered and ultimately failed. He shows how tensions between communist doctrine and foreign policy, coupled with the unexpected viability of the capitalist system in the West, accelerated pluralism within the communist movement. This led to Yugoslavia's assertion of independence, the rise of polycentrism in the post-Stalinist era, and the Russo-Chinese split. As we have seen, it ultimately led to the demise of the Soviet Union itself. Morris contends that the collapse of international communist unity underscores the inexorable hold of nationalism on human loyalties. He points out that American policy's obsession with international communism frustrated the development of a realistic policy toward radical nationalist movements which, because they were identified with communism, became equally suspect. Written by an experienced scholar and political analyst, this highly informative work skillfully balances a chronological account with a searching examination of the evolution and gradual disintegration of the dream of world revolution.

The existence of noticeable 'unified' parties is central to the theory and practice of democracy in general, and to parliamentary democracy in particular. However, legislative studies scholars have good reason to cease treating parties as monolithic, unitary actors, for they evidently are not. The first step in this direction is to ask why one of the distinguishing features of modern political parties is their legislative unity. Do parties enter parliament as unified actors, or are they moulded into this model by the legislature? The answer depends on whether one is looking at cohesion or at discipline. The goal of this collection of articles is to present a conceptual delineation between these two key concepts. This book was previously published as a special issue of the Journal of Legislative Studies.

This timely book updates, and takes stock of, Lipset and Rokkan's classic work Party Systems and Voter Alignments: Cross-National Perspectives, an influential work since its publication in 1967. It examines the significance of the original volume for the history of political sociology, and assesses its theoretical and empirical relevance for the study of contemporary elections, voters and parties. Most importantly this volume gives scope to new areas such as consociational democracies, small island states, and newly democratising Eastern and Central European and Third World countries.

This book examines political party system change from a party-centric perspective and assesses how, and to what extent, established political parties in western Europe can maintain their dominant positions. Parties are increasingly competing in a changeable environment and this book assesses the ways in which political parties have tried to adapt to these changes, by undertaking a study of the strategies employed by established parties since 1950. It features analysis of seventeen western European countries, with eight case-studies explored in greater depth, including; France, Germany, Portugal, Greece, Denmark, Ireland, Switzerland and Luxembourg. The book assesses two groups of 'strategies': institutional strategies, by which parties aim for success through control of rules, regulations and laws; and strategies oriented towards the electorate, through which parties seek success by proving themselves responsive to voters. Offering a detailed empirical assessment of the frequency with which these strategies have been employed, this book assesses the impact on established political parties, and argues that parties can shape their own fate by strategic choices. Party Strategies in Western Europe will be of interest to students and scholars of European politics, Government and party politics.

This book examines the transition within the Japanese party system that has seen the demise of 'the old socialists', the Japan Socialist Party, and in its place, the emergence of the Democratic Party of Japan as the leading opposition party. Sarah Hyde has produced an original book which looks at the intra-left (non-communist) opposition party manoeuvrings during the 1990s through to the new millennium in a highly detailed and focused manner whilst simultaneously looking at the three most significant changes for the left nationally: the change to the electoral system, the change to public opinion regarding defense and the Constitution after the First Gulf War and the changes to the Labour Union movement. Ending with a chapter on the incredibly important 2007 Upper House election, which brings the development of the opposition full circle, this book will be a valuable source for students and scholars of Japanese politics, electoral systems and opposition politics.

This book offers a critical and comparative examination of international support to political parties and party systems in emerging and prospective new democracies in several world regions. It combines the insights of a strong international grouping of leading academics and pioneering doctoral studies, and draws on extensive new field work inquiries. The wide-ranging coverage pools evidence from countries in Europe and Eurasia, Africa, East Asia and Central America. The book shows how far international support still has to go if it is to achieve its aims of helping party politics make a constructive contribution to furthering democracy. It advances our understanding both of the role the political parties are playing in the different polities and the sometimes negative impact of democracy promotion actors from outside. By contributing original theoretical perspectives and empirical findings, the book points the way forward to agendas for future research and new courses of action. It will be of interest to academics and the policy-making and practitioner communities alike. This book was published as a special issue of Democratizations.

Eight years after the second Palestinian uprising, the Oslo accords signed in 1993 seem to have failed. The reasons for the failure continue to fascinate students, politicians, researchers and policymakers alike. This book explores one of the major aspects of the bilateral peace process the composition and behaviour of the Palestinian negotiating team, which deeply impacted the outcome of the negotiations between 1991 and 1997. It focuses on the dynamics between the PLO leadership outside the occupied Palestinian territories and the grassroots leadership within the areas under Israeli control that led to conflicts of interest at the time of the final agreement. As the author was a part of the Palestinian leadership in the occupied territories, and was present during the negotiations process in Madrid and Washington DC, the book contains original, unpublished accounts, including those of the Washington bilateral negotiations and crucial internal Palestinian meetings. It is an excellent resource to gain an understanding of Palestinian behavior during peace talks, deterioration in peace-making efforts, the resulting radicalization, and the growing tendency towards violence.