Politics and Government in South Africa introduces readers to all aspects of government and politics in South Africa, from local, to provincial, national, and on to international considerations. The perfect guide for students and general readers, this textbook explains how South Africa's key institutions are governed and interact with each other, and how important issues such as economics, gender, race, and class shape relations between citizens and government. Grounded in history and leading theories and debates, the book also brings in alternative perspectives from artists, writers, and popular culture, to demonstrate the diverse ways in which issues of politics and social justice are engaged with within South Africa. Written with the needs of students at the forefront, each chapter includes: Review and discussion questions Key terms and further resources Fun facts in a Did you know? section Supplementary sources and quotations in a The Past as Present section Interactive and engaging, Politics and Government in South Africa invites readers to consider what they would do in tackling issues such as land distribution, peacekeeping, South Africa's role in the African Union, and military engagement abroad. It is an essential read for undergraduate students studying Political Science, International Relations, and African Studies, and for anyone looking to develop a deeper understanding of South Africa.

Conventional wisdom emerging from China and other autocracies claims that single-party legislatures and elections are mutually beneficial for citizens and autocrats. This line of thought reasons that these institutions can serve multiple functions, like constraining political leaders or providing information about citizens. In United Front, Paul Schuler challenges these views through his examination of the past and present functioning of the Vietnam National Assembly (VNA), arguing that the legislature's primary role is to signal strength to the public. When active, the critical behavior from delegates in the legislature represents cross fire within the regime rather than genuine citizen feedback. In making these arguments, Schuler counters a growing scholarly trend to see democratic institutions within single-party settings like China and Vietnam as useful for citizens or regime performance. His argument also suggests that there are limits to generating genuinely "consultative authoritarianism" through quasi-democratic institutions. Applying a diverse range of cutting-edge social science methods on a wealth of original data such as legislative speeches, election returns, and surveys, Schuler shows that even in a seemingly vociferous legislature like the VNA, the ultimate purpose of the institution is not to reflect the views of citizens, but rather to signal the regime's preferences while taking down rivals.

This book corrects an imbalance in Canadian political literature through offering a conservative account of Canadian political thought, within a framework of global politics. Across 15 chronologically organized chapters, and with a mixture of established and rising scholars, the book offers an investigation of the defining features and characteristics of Canadian conservative political thought, asking what have Canadian conservative political thinkers and practitioners learned from other traditions and, in turn, what have they contribute to our understanding of global politics and political thought? Rather than its culmination Canadian Conservative Political Thought will be the beginning of conservative political thought's recovery, and will spark debates and future research. The book will be a great resource for courses on Canadian politics, history, political philosophy and conservatism, Canadian Studies, and political theory.

Scrutinizing a relatively new field of study, the Handbook of Political Party Funding assesses the basic assumptions underlying the research, presenting an unequalled variety of case studies from diverse political finance systems. With contributions from both eminent international scholars and prominent representatives of the second generation of students in the field, this original and thought-provoking collection of current research updates our understanding of party funding regimes, while contributing to the re-examination of perennial and often problematic issues. It illustrates, using select empirical data, the range of alternative political finance structures, exposing both the limits of these regimes and their effects on parties, systems and on democratic competition. Offering diverse and detailed case studies, the chapters examine the stakes involved nationally, and the impact of financing on the political environment. At the same time, they present a picture of a field of study that is still establishing itself, offering direction for future research. Students and academics of political science, public law and comparative politics will find this an essential reference for studying party funding and its wider influence. Members of political institutions and those fighting political corruption will find this an incredibly useful Handbook for understanding the positives and negatives of party funding globally. Contributors include: M. Blumenberg, R. Boatright, L. Brenez, S.-H. Chang, B.A. Dworkin, N. Evertsson, J. Fischer, A. Francois, A. Gupta, F. Jimenez, M.A. Lopez Varas, E. Martins Paz, D. May, I. Mendez De Hoyos, J. Mendilow, A. Meyer, K.-H. Nassmacher, H. Onken, G. Orr, M. Pelletier, E. Phelippeau, D.R. Piccio, M. Pinto-Duschinsky, V.C. Reyes Jr., G. Sandri, S.E. Scarrow, V. Shale, V. Simral, J. Smulders, H. Soo Sim, S.U. Umoh, I. Van Biezen, M. Villoria, F.C. Von Nostitz, W. Wolfs

The abrupt collapse and dissolution of the Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD), the party which governed Spain during the crucial period of the transition to democracy (1977-82), is one of the most extraordinary events in the history of European party politics. This book develops an original theoretical framework for the study of party institutionalisation, and draws on a wide range of empirical sources to offer new insights into the causes of the UCD's collapse.

This edited collection explores how party politics impacts the implementation of gender quotas in political representation across Europe. Contributors identify actors, institutions, and cultural legacies shape how quotas are put into practice. The volume's subtitle, Resisting Institutions, points to the myriad ways in which parties and other institutions in Europe over time have resisted the inclusion of women into politics. As voluntary party quotas and legislative quotas gained prominence, so did strategies to undermine them. At the same time, Resisting Institutions also indicates that gender equality actors have developed ways to counter such blockages and advance the cause of parity in their legislatures. 17 country cases explore the current state of quota implementation and the effects of confronting androcentric institutions.

This book explores contemporary populist politics through the lens of ontological security theory. It shows that the 'divisionary politics of populism' is fostered by narratives of crisis and insecurity surrounding the imagined Self that gives shape to 'the people' that populism claims to represent. The loss of faith in mainstream political parties and moderate electoral candidates seems characteristic of the Zeitgeist in much of the Western world and beyond. Politicians and agendas propped up by a discourse that antagonizes established political elites on behalf of a reified, and homogenized people has become a trend in the politics of several countries. This book has brought together a team of worldwide renowned specialists on ontological security to grapple with the contemporary populist challenge through the conceptual lens of ontological security theory. From crises of democracy in the West, to backlashes against democratization in the Global South, this collection not only unveils fundamental structures underpinning these significant and current phenomena. It also provides us with the analytical tools to understand other occurrences of populist politics that are gaining traction across the globe. This book will be of great interest to upper-level students, researchers, and academics in Politics, International Relations and Security. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Cambridge Review of International Affairs.

State takeovers of local governments have garnered national attention of late, particularly following the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. In most U.S. cities, local governments are responsible for decisions concerning matters such as the local water supply and school affairs. However, once a state takes over, this decision-making capability is shuttled. Despite the widespread attention that takeovers in Flint and Detroit have gained, we know little about how such takeovers-a policy option that has been in use since the 1980s-affect political power in local communities. By focusing on takeovers of local school districts, this book offers the first systematic study of state takeovers of local governments. Although many major U.S. cities have experienced state takeovers of their local school districts, we know little about the political causes and consequences of takeovers. Complicating this phenomenon are the justifications for state takeokers; while they are assumedly based on concerns with poor academic performance, questions of race and political power play a critical role in the takeover of local school districts. However, Domingo Morel brings clarity to these questions and limitations-he examines the factors that contribute to state takeovers as well as the effects and political implications of takeovers on racialized communities, the communities most often affected by them. Morel both lays out the conditions under which the policy will disempower or empower racial and ethnic minority populations, and expands our understanding of urban politics. Morel argues that state interventions are a part of the new normal for cities and offers a novel theoretical framework for understanding the presence of the state in America's urban areas. The book is built around an original study of nearly 1000 school districts, including every school district that has been taken over by their respective state, and a powerful case study of Newark, New Jersey.

Before it was "Populism," the great reform movement of the 1890s was often called "Pefferism" after its most prominent leader, Kansas editor William Peffer. Peffer's Populism, Its Rise and Fall is the only significant memoir by a major Populist figure.

The Populist movement arose as a revolt against the special privileges of industrialism and the American banking system. It spread quickly throughout the Midwest and South and reached its zenith with the founding of the People's party in the early 1890s. William Peffer chaired the national conference that organized the People's party and was the party's first U.S. senator and president of its National Reform Press Association.

Peffer's memoir, written in 1899 but discovered decades later, offers a unique insider's view of the Populist movement. Peffer describes the development of Populism, the political maneuverings and campaign practices of the People's party, the effect of the famous silver movement on the critical election of 1896, and the behind-the-scenes conflicts and disagreements that ultimately led to the dissolution of America's last great third party.

"Populism, Its Rise and Fall" includes the complete text of this singular memoir, transcribed, edited, and annotated by Peter H. Argersinger, a leading scholar of the Populist movement. Argersinger's introductory essay and extensive annotation evoke America at the turn of the century and place Peffer's memoir in the context of the times, at the vortex of the forces that shaped and ultimately destroyed Populism.

"There are other Populist memoirs, but none from such a central figure as Peffer, and none from a key Kansas Populist. This book will be of note to scholars with general interests in the Gilded Age, as well as to specialists in Populism and farm activism."--Tom Isern, author of "Bull Threshers and Bindlestiffs: Harvesting and Threshing on the North American Plains" and coauthor of "Plainsfolk: A Commonplace of the Great Plains."

"Beyond doubt, Peffer was one of the more significant leaders produced by the Populist movement. This memoir is useful in helping us to understand the course he followed, which has remained something of an enigma."--Gene Clanton, author of "Kansas Populism: Ideas and Men."

This volume explores the development of political parties in nineteenth-century United States of America through an extensive analysis of the official statements by a party in an election, the party platforms, and their connection with political elites and voters. Platforms indicate how party leaders reconciled local, state, and national conflicts and articulated their electoral appeals to various constituencies by showing discussions of their respective policies. Thus, party platforms are a valuable vehicle to assess electoral strategy and party development. By focusing on the platforms of the major political parties-Democrats, Whigs, and Republicans-at the state and national levels in presidential elections from 1840 to 1896, the author identifies three salient patterns. First, platforms reference economic policy more frequently and to a greater degree than other policy areas. Second, national policies are discussed more than state policies. And third, over time, the content of the platforms becomes more similar, reflecting the nationalization of the party system. This examination of nineteenth-century American party platforms traces political party development as a dynamic process involving partisanship, the presentation of internally coherent and consistent messages to voters, and polarization, the existence of conflicting policy positions across parties.

This book examines the seismic impact of Brexit on the British political system, assessing its likely long-term effect in terms of a significantly changed political and constitutional landscape. Starting with the 2015 general election and covering key developments up to "Brexit Day", it shows how Brexit "transformed" British politics. The unprecedented turmoil - two snap elections, three Prime Ministers, the biggest ever defeat for the Government in Parliament, an impressive number of rebellions and reshuffles in Cabinet and repeated requests for a second independence referendum in Scotland - as a result of leaving the EU, calls into question what sort of political system the post-Brexit UK will become. Taking Lijphart's "Westminster model" as its reference, the book assesses the impact of Brexit along three dimensions: elections and parties; executive-legislative relationships; and the relationship between central and devolved administrations. Based on a wealth of empirical material, including original interviews with key policymakers and civil servants, it focuses on the "big picture" and analytically maps the direction of travel for the UK political system. This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of Brexit, British politics, constitutional, political, and contemporary history, elections and political parties, executive politics, and territorial politics as well as more broadly related practitioners and journalists. Chapters one and two of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons [Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND)] 4.0 license. Funded by the University of Trento and the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies.

This book examines the seismic impact of Brexit on the British political system, assessing its likely long-term effect in terms of a significantly changed political and constitutional landscape. Starting with the 2015 general election and covering key developments up to "Brexit Day", it shows how Brexit "transformed" British politics. The unprecedented turmoil - two snap elections, three Prime Ministers, the biggest ever defeat for the Government in Parliament, an impressive number of rebellions and reshuffles in Cabinet and repeated requests for a second independence referendum in Scotland - as a result of leaving the EU, calls into question what sort of political system the post-Brexit UK will become. Taking Lijphart's "Westminster model" as its reference, the book assesses the impact of Brexit along three dimensions: elections and parties; executive-legislative relationships; and the relationship between central and devolved administrations. Based on a wealth of empirical material, including original interviews with key policymakers and civil servants, it focuses on the "big picture" and analytically maps the direction of travel for the UK political system. This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of Brexit, British politics, constitutional, political, and contemporary history, elections and political parties, executive politics, and territorial politics as well as more broadly related practitioners and journalists. Chapters one and two of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons [Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND)] 4.0 license. Funded by the University of Trento and the Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies.

This book, with contributions from leading scholars in the field, presents a critical overview of much of the recent literature on political parties. It systematically assesses the capacity of existing concepts, typologies, and methodological approaches to deal with contemporary parties. It critically analyses the 'decline of parties' literature both from a conceptual perspective and - with regard to antiparty attitudes among citizens - on the basis of empirical analyses of survey data. It systematically re-examines the underpinnings of rational-choice analyses of electoral competition, as well as the misapplication of standard party models as the 'catch-all party.' Several chapters reexamine existing models of parties and party typologies, particularly with regard to the capacity of commonly used concepts to capture the wide variation among parties that exist in old and new democracies today, and with regard to their ability to deal adequately with the new challenges that parties are facing in rapidly changing political, social and technological environments. In particular, two detailed case studies demonstrate how party models are significant not only as frameworks for scholarly research, but also insofar as they can affect party performance. Other chapters also examine in detail how corruption and party patronage have contributed to party decline, as well as the public attitudes towards parties in several countries. In the aggregate, the various contributions to this volume reject the notion that a 'decline of party' has progressed to such an extent as to threaten the survival of parties as the crucial intermediary actors in modern democracies. The contributing authors argue, however, that parties are facing a new set of sometimes demanding challenges. Not only have parties differed significantly in their ability to successfully meet these challenges, but the core concepts, typologies, party models and methodological approaches that have guided research in this area over the past 40 years have met with only mixed success in adequately capturing these recent developments and serving as fruitful frameworks for analysis. This book is intended to remedy some of these shortcomings.

Vast fortunes grew out of the party system during the Gilded Age. In New York, party leaders experimented with novel ways to accumulate capital for political competition and personal business. Partisans established banks. They drove a speculative frenzy in finance, real estate, and railroads. And they built empires that stretched from mining to steamboats, and from liquor distilleries to newspapers. Control over political property-party organizations, public charters, taxpayer subsidies, and political offices-served to form governing coalitions, and to mobilize voting blocs. In Electoral Capitalism, Jeffrey D. Broxmeyer reappraises the controversy over wealth inequality, and why this period was so combustible. As ranks of the dispossessed swelled, an outpouring of claims transformed the old spoils system into relief for the politically connected poor. A vibrant but scorned culture of petty officeholding thus emerged. By the turn of the century, an upsurge of grassroots protest sought to dislodge political bosses from their apex by severing the link between party and capital. Examining New York, and its outsized role in national affairs, Broxmeyer demonstrates that electoral capitalism was a category of entrepreneurship in which the capture of public office and the accumulation of wealth were mutually reinforcing. The book uncovers hidden economic ties that wove together presidents, senators, and mayors with business allies, spoilsmen, and voters. Today, great political fortunes have dramatically returned. As current public debates invite parallels with the Gilded Age, Broxmeyer offers historical and theoretical tools to make sense of how politics begets wealth.

When Ronald Laone's son was eleven, he asked his father, "What does it mean to be a conservative?" From that simple question came a journey of political enlightenment for father and son, one that culminated in The Republican Party, a history of the Republican Party, leaders, and beliefs.

Beginning with a comprehensive overview of the origins of the Republican Party, Laone examines the various political battles of the nineteenth century and how they shaped the party's establishment in 1854 and its core ideologies. He then profiles each Republican president from Abraham Lincoln to George W. Bush, offering a short biography and major highlights of each one's presidency.

Laone also reveals the major political firsts of the Republican Party, including the first African-American US senator, the first Hispanic US congressman, and the first female US congresswoman, recording their significant contributions to the conservative movement. A comprehensive bibliography offers titles for further reading.

Thoroughly researched and educational, The Republican Party offers information for those seeking to understand the origins of conservative thinking, values, and beliefs within the American political system.

A specific description of why USA is ripe for "soft dictatorship." How Hillary can make it happen.

Covers an extraordinary political event of having four national elections in two years. The book relies on empirical analysis, including extensive use of the Israel National Election Studies data; on theoretical rigor; and on the contextualization of the elections from comparative and long-term perspectives. Ideal for students and researchers of Israeli politics and society, electoral studies and the crisis of democracy more generally.

Are we seeing the presidentialization of politics in Japan? Certainly, many recent prime ministers have demonstrated powerful leadership, notably Junichiro Koizumi and Shinzo Abe. While the phenomenon of presidentialization has been much discussed for years, the Japanese case has not received much attention in the English language. Iwasaki analyses the state of Japanese politics using the established analytical framework of presidentialization – looking at leadership power resources, leadership autonomy, and the personalization of the electoral process – and assesses the factors that have been claimed to lead to similar changes in other countries. He argues that there are also unique variables that contribute to the presidentialization of Japanese politics. Most notably, the introduction of public subsidies to political parties and electoral reform in 1994. A valuable contribution to the global scholarship on presidentialization, which will be of particular interest to scholars of Japanese politics.

This edited collection builds directly upon the recently published book by Harmel, Svasand, and Mjelde (Institutionalisation (and De-Institutionalisation) of Right-Wing Protest Parties: The Progress Parties in Denmark and Norway) and applies their conceptual framework to a wide range of additional cases. Employing a common conceptual framework throughout, the chapters cover a broad range of cases and make important contributions toward building theories on why some parties succeed in institutionalising while others fail. The book is primarily about the status some parties achieve as an 'institution', the means by which parties may acquire that status, and some of the obstacles that stand in their way.

Never has the Left held power in so many advanced economies, yet the difference this makes to economic policy proves hard to specify. This book is the first to examine in detail the successes and failures of governments across Europe and Australasia to chart distinctive courses in the face of the neoliberal backlash against state intervention, the welfare state, and guaranteed full employment.

Populist Parties and Democratic Resilience focuses on populist parties as the main agents of populism and examines when these parties turn anti-democratic and when they remain loyal to the democratic system. Following the Brexit referendum, the election of Donald Trump, and the rise of populist parties around the globe, many observers suggested that democracy was in serious trouble. Nevertheless, while some democratic systems have been seized by populists, most of them have proven resilient. In this volume, the authors identify the conditions under which populist parties become inimical to political and societal pluralism. They offer in-depth analyses of the trajectory of populist parties in eleven European Union countries (Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland, Romania, and Spain). The book shows that, reflecting the diversity of national contexts, there are multiple pathways whereby populist parties' power can remain contained and subject to democratic checks and balances. Moreover, populist parties can - at times voluntarily, at other times by force of external conditions - come to adhere to the democratic rules of the game. On this basis, the volume outlines different ways in which European democracies can successfully accommodate populist parties through strategies that carefully navigate between the extremes of uncritical acceptance and outright ostracization. Drawing on the literature on democratic theory and comparative politics, this book directly contributes to the public debate on the state of democracy in Europe. It will be of interest to researchers of comparative politics, European politics, party politics, democracy, and populism.

This book addresses the changing electoral and political circumstances in which American political parties found themselves during the 2016 election, and the strategic adaptations this new pressure may require. The respective establishments of both major political parties have found themselves facing serious challenges. Some observers wondered if realignment was in progress, and whether the parties could survive. Both grounded in research and accessible to more than just academics, this book provides important insights into how political parties can move forward from 2016.

An objective and dispassionate study of the oldest religion based regional political party: the Shiromani Akali Dal, participating in the democratic politics and processes of socio-economic development and transformation of the country. It delineates and analyses events and developments from the emergence of the Akali Dal, as a religious movement, its transformation into a religious political party, concerned with safeguarding the political, social and economic interests of the Sikhs as a minority and to represent them in governing institutions, engaged in the struggle for power in secular domain mobilising the community support using the ideology of fusion of religion and politics, yet lacking equal support from different sections of the community. Rather than dwelling on a mere narrative of events and describing strategies, tactics and agitations of the Akalis an attempt has been made to understand why and how social and economic antagonisms arising out of generation and articulation of demands in a pluralistic society, undergoing modernization and democratization may be marked by identity politics. The study is located in the broader framework of rise and growth of regional parties and identity politics in India as a part and consequence of India's adopted model of state and nation building, integration and socio-economic development and transformation.