How do individual legislators in the European Parliament (EP) make decisions on the wide variety of policy proposals they routinely confront? Despite a flourishing literature on the European Union's only directly elected institution, we know surprisingly little about the micro-foundations of EP politics. Who Decides, and How? seeks to address this shortcoming by examining how individual legislators make policy choices, how these choices are aggregated, and what role parties and committees play in this process. It argues that members of the EP lack adequate resources to make equally informed decisions across policy areas. Therefore, when faced with policy choices in policy areas outside their realms of expertise, members make decisions on the basis of perceived preference coherence: they adopt the positions of their expert colleagues in the responsible EP committee whose preferences over policy outcomes they believe to most closely match their own. These preferences are difficult to determine, however, which is why legislators rely on a shared party label as stand-in for common preferences. This results in cohesive parties, despite the inability of EP parties to discipline their members.
Who Decides, and How? relies on the respective strengths of quantitative and qualitative data to shed new light on the inner workings of the EP. It illustrates how legislators make broadly representative decisions under conditions of resource scarcity, informational uncertainty, and problematic policy preferences, and how structurally weak EP parties can act in an internally cohesive and externally competitive manner when carrying out their policy commitments to Europe's citizens.

The seventy years of late Stuart and early Hanoverian Britain following 1680 were a crucial period in British politics and society, seeing the growth both of political parties and of stability. This collection of original essays provides a coherent account of Britain in the 'First Age of Party'.

In 2019, the United Conservative Party, under the leadership of Jason Kenney, unseated the New Democratic Party to form the provincial government of Alberta. A restoration of conservative power in a province that had seen the Progressive Conservatives win every election from 1971-2015, UCP quickly began to make political waves.This is the first scholarly analysis of the 2019 election and the first years of the UCP government, with special focus on the path of Jason Kenney's rise to, and fall from, provincial political power. It opens with an examination of the election from a number of vantage points, including the campaign, polling, and online politics. It provides fascinating insight into internal UCP politics with chapters on the divisions within the party, gender and the UCP, and the symbolism of Kenney's famous blue pickup truck. Explorations of oil and gas policy, the Energy War Room, Alberta's budgets, health care, education, the public sector, Alberta's cultural industries, and more provide unprecedented insight into the actions, motivations, and impacts of Kenney's UCP Government in power. Contributions from top political watchers, journalists, and academics provide a wide range of methods and perspectives. Concluding with a survey of the impacts of COVID-19 in Alberta and a comparison between Jason Kenney and Doug Ford, Blue Storm is essential reading for everyone interested in Alberta politics and the tumultuous first years of the UCP government. Providing key insights from perspectives across the political spectrum, this book is a captivating deep-dive into an unprecedented party, its often controversial politics, and its unforgettable leader.

Linking Citizens and Parties addresses familiar questions about political representation: Are parties responsive to their core supporters or to the public in general? Do parties that adopt centrist policy positions benefit in elections? Does proportional representation encourage party extremism? These fundamental questions about democracy are paired with the empirical observation of Western European democracies during the last thirty years. The study highlights the pathways (mainstream and niche) through which citizens' political preferences are expressed by their political parties. It concludes with a positive evaluation of these democracies as their citizens have access to at least one, and possibly both niche and mainstream pathways.

Scholars across the humanities and social sciences are increasingly examining the importance of European integration and Europeanisation to changing notions of local, regional, national and supranational identity in Europe. As part of this interest, anthropologists, historians, sociologists, political scientists and others have paid particular attention to the roles which EU policies and initiatives have played in the construction of local, regional and national identity in Europe, and in the reframing of various forms of culture. This volume provides the first multidisciplinary look at the impact of European integration and Europeanisation on changing culture and identity in one member state of the EU, namely Ireland (including the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland), and the first such look at the ways in which the cultures and identities of a member state have had an impact on various versions of 'Europe', in and outside of the EU.

This volume presents a broad survey of the Republikaner Party, its program and ideology, its organization, and the composition of its voters and sympathizers. The authors maintain that any analysis of the Republikaners must distinguish between the party as represented by its platform and party officials, and the party as seen by its voters. Republikaners draw potential voters from two very differently motivated groups: (1) a small, ideologically oriented segment dominated by right-wing conservative and right-fringe extremist attitudes, and (2) a larger, flucating pool of sympathizers less committed to the REP and primarily concerned with economic and social issues. Until recently, the Republikaners were mainly able to exploit narrowly focused, pent-up resentments. The "foreigner problem" is at the center of Republikaners' propaganda and serves as a catalyst that adroitly combines numerous related social problems such as housing shortage, unemployment, and the widespread fear of being shunted aside by "interlopers." Although the Republikaners still lack the social foundation and ideological consensus necessary to build a stable core constituency, the organization serves as a vehicle for diverse protest. The authors warn that the Republikaners potentially comprise a base for organizing a party on the far right of the German political spectrum.

In the wake of the inconclusive May 2010 general election Lord Adonis and other senior Labour figures sat down for talks with the Liberal Democrat leadership to try to persuade them to govern Britain together in a Lib - Lab coalition. The talks ultimately resulted in failure for Labour amid recriminations on both sides and the accusation that the Lib Dems had conducted a dutch auction, inviting Labour to outbid the Tories on a shopping list of demands. Despite calls for him to give his own account of this historic sequence of events, Adonis has kept his own counsel until now. Published to coincide with the third anniversary of the general election that would eventually produce an historic first coalition government since the Second World War, 5 Days In May is a remarkable and important insider account of the dramatic negotiations that led to its formation. It also offers the author's views on what the future holds as the run-up to the next election begins. 5 Days in May presents a unique eyewitness account of a pivotal moment in political history.

This book begins telling two distinct stories. It provides a summarized history of the Republican Party and Dr. David Agbeti's life story. Through alternating chapters, the two non-concurring stories are each related chronologically. Readers will learn of the Republican Party's founding principles, the significant challenges it has faced, and how it has changed appropriately while maintaining certain bedrock precepts from its origin to the modern era. The book also introduces Dr. David Agbeti and narrates his straightforward progression from humble beginnings in Igede-Ekiti, Nigeria, to a thriving entrepreneurship in America and seat on the Republican Senatorial Inner Circle. Once both stories reach present day, they effortlessly synthesize into an exploration of several issues currently dominating America's political, economic and social discourse.

This book addresses how the Conservative Party has re-focused its interest in social policy. Analysing to what extent the Conservatives have changed within this particular policy sphere, the book explores various theoretical, social, political, and electoral dimensions of the subject matter.

Drawing on theories of neo-institutionalism to show how institutions shape dissident behaviour, Boucek develops new ways of measuring factionalism and explains its effects on office tenure. In each of the four cases - from Britain, Canada, Italy and Japan - intra-party dynamics are analyzed through times series and rational choice tools.

Are American political parties really in decay? Have American voters really given up on the major parties? Taking issue with widely accepted theories of dealignment and party decay, Paulson argues that the most profound realignment in American history occurred in the 1960s, and he presents an alternative theory of realignment and party revival.

In the 1964-1972 period, factional struggles within the major American political parties were resolved, with conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats emerging as the majority factions within their parties. The result was a critical realignment in Presidential elections, in which the decisive realignment involved the movement of white voters in the south toward the Republican coalition. The impression of dealignment came from the fact that electoral change in Congressional elections moved at a much slower rate. The south continued to vote Democratic for congress, usually for incumbent conservative Democrats. The result was an electoral environment which produced divided government. Secular realignment in congressional elections produced the Republican majorities of 1994. Now the conservative Democrats who were the swing voters since the 1960s, were voting Republican. The result is that the coalitions for yet another realignment are in place at the turn of the twenty-first century. After three decades in which the swing voters were relatively conservative, the new swing voter is a genuine centrist; an independent who is ideologically moderate. The coming realignment, Paulson asserts, will consummate the birth of a new, ideologically, polarized party system with a greater potential for party government, which would be a fundamental change for American democracy. A major resource for scholars, students, and other researchers interested in American parties and elections.

This edited collection interprets and assesses the transformation of Brazil under the Workers' Party. It addresses the extent of the changes the Workers' Party has brought about and examines how successful these have been, as well as how continuity and social change in Brazil have affected key domains of economy, society, and politics.

The first Democratic president for twelve years, William Jefferson Clinton entered the White House on a note of optimism, pledged to give priority to economic policy and his domestic agenda of healthcare and welfare reforms. President Clinton the "Man from Hope" faced what looked like a fresh opportunity to move ahead with legislation. The years of "gridlock", whereby a president of one political party faced a Congress dominated by another, were over. This volume analyzes in depth the processes and policies of the Clinton presidency. It reveals the contradictions, achievements, reversals and triumphs of a complex and fascinating president and his administration.

A collection of new, scholarly articles on the Jewish Workers' Bund - the first modern Jewish political party in Eastern Europe - written by prominent academics from eight countries. This work represents a broad range of perspectives, Jewish and non-Jewish, sympathetic to the Bund and critical of its work. The articles in this volume are fresh, make use of previously unused source material, and provide us with new perspectives on the significance of the Bund and its ideas.

To step in government at only one level or to stay in opposition at both? To opt for a single consistent strategy or to try out various, but sometimes conflicting, formulae? To replicate coalition agreements at the federal level or to adapt them to the regional context, even if this means departing from a coherent party line? These are just some of the many questions that political parties face when attempting to form a successful coalition in multi-level polities. Through the example of Germany and Spain Dr. Stefuriuc seeks to explore how political parties form coalitions at the subnational level and in doing so develops a strong theoretical framework that revises existing models of government formation and creates explanations based on the multi-level institutional context. This excellent contribution to the subject is important reading for students and scholars of Comparative European Politics, Federalism, decentralization and Multi-level Governance.

This book offers a comprehensive treatment of the timely question of the politicization of European integration. It shows how this issue's complex linkages with traditional political divides pose a tough challenge to politicians and lead to bitter framing contests about its actual meaning.

"How can we strengthen the capacity of governments and parties to manage arrivals and departures at the top? Democracy requires reliable processes for the transfer of power from one generation of leaders to the next. This book introduces new analytical frameworks and presents the latest empirical evidence from comparative political research"--

Once teetering on the brink of oblivion, the British Liberal Party has again re-established itself as a major force in national and local politics. David Dutton's approachable study offers new insights into the waning, near death and ultimate recovery of the Liberal Party from 1900 to the present day. Discussions of politics, philosophy and performance are all skilfully interwoven as Dutton demonstrates how the party has become, once more, a formidable player on the political stage.
The second edition of this established text offers:
* an entirely new chapter on the coalition government
* a chronology of key events
* numerous suggestions for further reading.
This lively survey of British Liberalism from the era of Campbell-Bannerman to that of Nick Clegg reviews existing literature while offering its own distinctive perspective on one of the most compelling of political dramas.

This book offers a comprehensive and accessible study of the electoral strategies, governing approaches and ideological thought of the British Conservative Party from Winston Churchill to David Cameron. Timothy Heppell integrates a chronological narrative with theoretical evaluation, examining the interplay between the ideology of Conservatism and the political practice of the Conservative Party both in government and in opposition. He considers the ethos of the Party within the context of statecraft theory, looking at the art of winning elections and of governing competently. The book opens with an examination ofthe triumph and subsequent degeneration of one-nation Conservatism in the 1945 to 1965 period, and closes with an analysis of the party's re-entry into government as a coalition with the Liberal Democrats in 2010, and of the developing ideology and approach of the Cameron-led Tory party in government.

Using archival sources and interviews with key participants, new insight is gained to how the Lib-Lab Pact of 1977-78 - an agreement, short of a full coalition - came about, was structured and implemented, and how Liberal leader, David Steel, might have achieved significant policy concessions on electoral reform.

In this groundbreaking work, Scott A. Frisch and Sean Q Kelly draw on significant new data from congressional archives--gleaned from the papers of both Democratic and Republican leaders from the 85th to the 103rd Congress--to reveal the complex process through which congressional members get assigned to the powerful committees of the House. They conclude that parties differ in their committee assignment methods and that party approaches can change over time depending on leadership. They also pay particular attention to the increasing roles of race and gender in the assignment process.

Based on extensive primary and secondary research, this volume fills a crucial gap in our understanding of the internal dynamics of the American political system.