Within Southern Africa, there is an observable increase in dominant party systems, in which one political party dominates over a prolonged period of time, within a democratic system with regular elections. This party system has replaced the one-party system that dominated Africa's political landscape after the first wave of liberations in the 1950s and 1960s. This book seeks to understand this trend and its implications for southern Africa's democracies by comparing such systems in southern Africa with others in the developing world (such as India, South Korea and Taiwan). In particular, the case of Zimbabwe stands out as a concerning example of the direction a dominant party can take: regression into authoritarianism. India, South Korea and Taiwan present alternative routes for the dominant party system. The salient question posed by this book is: Which route are Botswana, Namibia and South Africa taking? It answers by drawing conclusions to determine whether these countries are moving towards liberal democracy, authoritarianism or a road in between.

Transforming the transformation? The East European Radical Right in the Political Process examines the significance of radical right parties, along with other organizations, in terms of their involvement in the political process of new democracies. This groundbreaking study highlights firstly the radical right's interaction with other political actors, such as parties, governments and interest groups, in their respective countries. Secondly, the contributors analyze the effects of such interaction with regard to agenda setting and policies in "loaded" policy fields, namely minorities and immigration, law and order, religion, territorial issues and democratization. Through an examination of the role of radical right actors in political processes and an assessment of the resulting measurable outcomes, this book shows how policies, election results and regime changes indicate shifts away from the liberal-democratic order institutionalized in the course of post-Communist transformation. Offering a unique cross-national comparison of particular facets and themes, as well as in-depth analysis of country cases, this book will be of interest to undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as scholars, of European politics and far right studies.

The Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic (TDFR) was a unique, bottom-up, and a fleeting display of political unity and federalism among the main Armenian, Azerbaijani and Georgian political factions between 22 April 1918, when it declared its independence, and 26 May 1918, when it was dissolved and replaced by the three nation-states of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Focusing on a crucial but poorly understood moment in the modern history of the Caucasus at the end of the First World War, this book offers a systematic, contextually-rich, and multi-perspectival-Armenian, Azerbaijani, Georgian, Ottoman, German, British, American, Italian, Bolshevik, Ukrainian and North Caucasian-account of the TDFR, drawing on contributions (with the new material from archives in Tbilisi, Grozny, Yerevan, Baku, Istanbul, Berlin, London, Washington D.C.) by a new generation of historians and scholars working on the region. The book argues that despite its month-long existence in this geopolitically volatile region, the TDFR, with and its federative nature and the various discussions about federalism and federation that it provoked, continued to have an appeal for Georgians, Azerbaijanis, Armenians as well as for the Great Powers well beyond its dissolution. Moreover, the experience of the TDFR reifies federalism as a key political concept in the modern history of the Caucasus. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the Caucasus Survey.

This title was first published in 2000. The author offers a contribution to the ongoing debate on the rise of the cartel party in democratic systems of government. His study examines the question of whether the decline in party size impacts democratic development and concludes by discussing implications for the future.

When the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) assumed power in India in 1998 as the largest party of the National Democratic Alliance, it soon became evident that it prioritized educational reforms. Under BJP rule, a reorganization of the National Council of Educational Research and Training occurred, and in 2002 four new history textbooks were published. This book examines the new textbooks which were introduced, considering them to be integral to the BJP's political agenda. It analyses the ways in which their narrative and explanatory frameworks defined and invoked Hindu identity. Employing the concept of decontextualization, the author argues that notions of Hindu cultural similarity were conveyed, particularly as the textbooks paid scarce attention to social, geographical and temporal contexts in their approaches to Indian history. The book shows that intrinsic to the textbooks' emphasis on similarity is a systematic backgrounding of any references to internal lines of division within the Hindu community. Through a comparison with earlier textbooks, it sheds light on the contested nature of history writing in India, especially in terms of nation building and identity construction. This issue is also highly relevant in India today due to the electoral success of the BJP in 2014, and the efforts of the Hindu nationalist organization Vishwa Hindu Parishad to construct a coherent Hinduism. Arguing that the textbooks operate according to the BJP's ideology of Hindu cultural nationalism, this book will be of interest to academics in the field of South Asian studies, contemporary history, the uses of history, identity politics and Hindu nationalism.

A major new edition of this introductory survey of the two main political parties, from the rise of the Liberal Party under Gladstone until the period of Conservative domination under Salisbury in the late nineteenth century. As well as assessing the impact of major political landmarks such as the Great Reform Acts, it also describes the nineteenth century political scene.

Contemporary American conservatism - a melange of ideas, people, and organizations - is difficult to define; even conservatives themselves are unable to agree about its essential meaning. Yet the conservative movement is well financed, exerts strong influence in the Republican Party, inspires followers throughout the land, and has spawned a network of think tanks and media outlets that are the envy of its competitors. It is a powerful political force with which to be reckoned. This book examines how that has come about and what contemporary conservatism signifies for US politics and policy. It looks at the recent history of conservatism in America as well as its antecedents in the UK, traces changes over time using American National Election Study data from 1972 to the present in what it means when people say they are conservatives, and assesses the prospects for American conservatism, both in the near term electoral context and over the longer term as well.

Contemporary American conservatism - a melange of ideas, people, and organizations - is difficult to define; even conservatives themselves are unable to agree about its essential meaning. Yet the conservative movement is well financed, exerts strong influence in the Republican Party, inspires followers throughout the land, and has spawned a network of think tanks and media outlets that are the envy of its competitors. It is a powerful political force with which to be reckoned. This book examines how that has come about and what contemporary conservatism signifies for US politics and policy. It looks at the recent history of conservatism in America as well as its antecedents in the UK, traces changes over time using American National Election Study data from 1972 to the present in what it means when people say they are conservatives, and assesses the prospects for American conservatism, both in the near term electoral context and over the longer term as well.

Gennady Andreevich Zyuganov is the leader of Russia's resurgent Communist Party and was Boris Yeltsin's strongest challenger in the summer 1996 presidential elections. Although his face became familiar to the world at that time, his ideas and his program were mainly a subject of speculation. This book makes Zyuganov available to American readers for the first time -- in his own words.

A former village teacher from Orel Province, Zyuganov came to Moscow in the 1980s to work in the ideology department of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and to complete doctoral work in philosophy at Moscow State University. He is a prolific writer who has rebuilt the Communist party on his vision of a Russian socialist great power. Today he leads the Communist faction in the Duma and is chairman of the united opposition movement -- the National Patriotic Union.

This volume is a compilation of Zyuganov's writings on Russia's past and present and her place in the world; Russia's fate under the leadership of Gorbachev and Yeltsin; his own vision of Russia's future under a new Communist leadership; and his reflections on the 1996 presidential election.

First Published in 1983. This book offers a facet of Britain's Palestine Policy and attitudes that have been previously overlooked. Here the reader can discover both fascination and significance of the British Labour Movement's attitude and policies towards Zionism during the thirty-one years between 1917 and 1948.

This important study analyses the developoment of the CDU/CSU as a political force in West Germany from the Second World War to the late 1970s, with special reference to its role both in Government (1949-69) and Opposition (1969-76) and considers how it was instrumental in the formulation of governmental policies. The first part of the book looks at the development of the CDU/CSU. The second part focuses on its composition and structure and considers such aspects as its organisation, membership, auxiliary organisations and electoral appeal and campaigns. A separate chapter deals with the CSU's relationship with the CDU, its leadership and its organisation.

Throughout Europe, stateless nationalist and regionalist parties have moved from 'niche' actors in party systems to mainstream political players. No longer the 'outsider' in party politics, these parties have successfully entered government at the regional and state levels and many have been responsible for pushing the agenda for radical constitutional change in the United Kingdom, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Germany and France. However, the transformation of these parties from peripheral movements to established parties of government does not come without its problems. Whilst these parties were once able to focus on the single issue of self-determination, they have been forced to change their strategies, alter their behaviour and compromise on their principles in order to succeed in an era of electoral volatility, partisan dealignment and multi-level governance. This book explores how stateless nationalist and regionalist parties across Western Europe have responded to the twin challenges of multi-level politics (i.e. operating at the regional, state and European levels), and a multi-dimensional policy space, whereby they must articulate policy proposals alongside their territorial demands. Written by leading experts in the field, this is a cutting-edge collection of theoretical, analytical and empirical work on the challenges currently facing nationalist and regionalist parties in Europe. This book was previously published as a special issue of Regional and Federal Studies.

It is not possible to understand the nature and functioning of post-communist political parties without understanding their relationship with the state. On the one hand, few parties in the region would be able to survive and perform without state resources as they lack strong roots within the wider society. On the other hand, the relatively weak states inherited from the communist period offer parties and elites opportunities for various forms of rent-seeking within state institutions. But how can we understand the relationship between parties and the state? How do the party-state links work in practice and do they exhibit any cross-national or cross-party variation? Are there any discernible patterns of party-state linkages among the post-communist democracies? Previously published as a special issue of The Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics, this volume addresses these questions. The party-state linkages are analyzed alongside three analytical dimensions: state financing of parties, their legal regulation, and party patronage within the state institutions. The contributors bring together case studies of post-communist countries, as well as cross-country comparative analysis, each addressing at least one of these analytical dimensions. Besides providing a framework within which studies of party-state relationship can be undertaken, the book brings comparative evidence on the extent and the manner in which parties in the region use the state for their own purposes.

The emergence of green parties throughout Europe during the 1980s marked the arrival of a new form of political movement, challenging established models of party politics and putting new issues on the political agenda. Since their emergence, green parties in Europe have faced different destinies; in countries such as Germany, Belgium, Finland, France, and Italy, they have accumulated electoral successes, participated in governments, implemented policies and established themselves as part of the party system. In other countries, their political relevance remains very limited. After more than 30 years on the political scene, green parties have proven to be more than just a temporary phenomenon. They have lost their newness, faced success and failure, power and opposition, grassroots enthusiasm and internal conflicts. Green Parties in Europe includes individual case studies and a comparative perspective to bring together international specialists engaged in the study of green parties. It renews and expands our knowledge about the green party family in Europe.

This book examines and compares the emergence, development and impact of the party systems in post-colonial India and post-apartheid South Africa. It sheds light on the crucial role and function of party systems in democratising developing countries. Although often described as political miracles or empirical anomalies, both countries actually figure prominently in party system and democratic theory due to their regional importance and the important role the party system plays in their political trajectory. The author employs a diachronic comparison of the two party systems, with a distinct focus on the role of party agency in the shaping and maintenance of one-party-dominance and on the role of the two party systems as independent variables. Highlighting the similarities and differences between the two systems, he examines whether the lessons learned from the Indian experience in terms of the function and effects of the country's post-independent party system and the role of party agency therein are applicable to South Africa. This book will be of interest to academics working in the field of democracy, comparative politics and development in general, and South Africa and South Asia in particular.

With a public career spanning 62 years, Gladstone dominated the Victorian political arena. Yet he remains an enigmatic figure; a high Anglican, Tory protectionist who became leader of the Liberals, a party associated with free trade and religious Nonconformity. Michael Winstanley examines both Gladstone and the environment in which he operated, concentrating in particular on the political and social composition of the party which he led. He argues that the parliamentary `Gladstonian Liberals' were far from unqualified supporters of Gladstone and that much of his power was derived from his popularity amongst the electorate. He concludes with an assessment of Gladstone's achievements and his political legacy.

After landslide electoral victories, two referenda and a presidential election, thirteen years of AK Party rule have shattered many myths regarding Turkey's politics and the nature of the party itself. This book argues that the last thirteen years are best understood via the AK party's interaction with the social-political realm. It focuses on criticism, dissent and opposition from prominent organized groups in Turkish society, which themselves represent significantly different traditions, ideologies and interests. Bringing together specialists from across the field, its chapters explore key societal actors to reveal the dynamics behind the last decade of AK Party rule. Overall, the book throws light on the extent to which the government's characters, trajectories, policies and leadership style have been interactively shaped by opposition and dissent. Exploring the historically unprecedented and politically controversial rule of the AK Party, as well as the relationship between modern societal groups and a government driven by a conservative Islamic tradition, this book is a valuable resource for students and scholars of Turkish studies, as well as politics more generally.

Roughly sixty-five years ago, a group of political scientists operating as the "Committee on Political Parties" of the American Political Association thought long and hard about whether the American parties were adequately serving their democracy, and made specific recommendations for improvements. Comparing the parties of this country to those of Great Britain, the Committee found the American parties to be lacking in such fundamentals as clear policy differences, strong and effective organization, and unity of purpose among each party's representatives in public offices. Starting from that background, this book is intended to significantly enhance students' understanding of the American parties today by putting them in broader context. How do the twenty-first century Democrats and Republicans compare to the APSA Committee's "responsible parties model" of the mid-twentieth? And how do the American parties compare to parties of other democracies around the world, including especially the British parties? Harmel, Giebert, and Janda answer those questions and, in the process, demonstrate that the American parties have moved significantly in the direction of the responsible parties model, but while showing little inclination for implementing the greater discipline the Committee thought essential. Already having provided as much ideological choice as the British parties, the US parties have now edged closer on the other critical requirement of legislative cohesion. The authors show that the latter has resulted "naturally" from the greater homogenization of the meaning of "Democrat" and "Republican" across the country, both within the electorate and now within Congress as well. The dramatic increase in cohesion is not the product of greater party discipline, but rather of sectoral realignments.

There is a widespread notion that Russia is forever fated to be an authoritarian country where liberalism and democracy can never make real progress. However, at the beginning of the twentieth century there was an extremely influential "liberationist" movement which culminated in the formation of a modern, Western-style liberal party, the Constitutional Democrats or "Kadets". The book provides a comprehensive history of the rise of the Kadets, focusing, in particular, on the revolutionary years 1905-06. It outlines how they dominated the first Duma elected by the people and analyses their policies, social composition and political tactics. The book challenges the view (shared by many historians) that the Kadets were inherently extreme, doctrinaire or unwilling to compromise, and argues that their eventual failure was primarily due to the intransigence of the old regime. The Russian Liberals and the Revolution of 1905 illustrates, in detail, that the Kadets offered a moderate alternative to reaction on the one hand and revolution on the other.

Do political parties merely represent divisions in society? Until now, scholars and other observers have generally agreed that they do. But Building Blocs argues the reverse: that some political parties in fact shape divisions as they struggle to remake the social order. Drawing on the contributors' expertise in Indonesia, India, the United States, Canada, Egypt, and Turkey, this volume demonstrates further that the success and failure of parties to politicize social differences has dramatic consequences for democratic change, economic development, and other large-scale transformations. This politicization of divisions, or "political articulation," is neither the product of a single charismatic leader nor the machinations of state power, but is instead a constant call and response between parties and would-be constituents. When articulation becomes inconsistent, as it has in Indonesia, partisan calls grow faint and the resulting vacuum creates the possibility for other forms of political expression. However, when political parties exercise their power of interpellation efficiently, they are able to silence certain interests such as those of secular constituents in Turkey. Building Blocs exposes political parties as the most influential agencies that structure social cleavages and invites further critical investigation of the related consequences.

In this highly original book, Patrick O'Neil analyses the catalysts of the collapse of socialism in Eastern Europe and offers explanations for these events. The exceptional case of Hungary is used to support theoretical concepts regarding the transition in Eastern Europe using new empirical evidence and institutional theory. The Hungarian transition from communism is distinct in that the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party was the initiator of its own transition but also acted as its own greatest enemy. This book provides a detailed analysis of the internal reform movement within the Hungarian Communist Party and its role in the incremental transition to democracy in the late 1980s. The author utilises party archives and primary interviews with important figures in the Communist Party to examine the effect of institutional relationships on the collapse of the authoritarian order. He also emphasises the role of reform circles in accelerating the disintegration of the Communist Party in Hungary. The book concludes that the way in which an autocratic order perpetuates itself affects the manner of its decline and the new system that takes its place. This authoritative book will be welcomed by academics and students interested in the politics of transition both in Hungary and Eastern Europe and the politics of the demise of communism in general.

A Choice Highly Recommended Title-January 2017 This book is an interpretive analysis of political campaigns in America: instead of focusing on how campaigns are designed and run, it investigates the role campaigns play in our American politics, and the close symbiosis between campaigns and those politics. The text examines how campaigns are an important manifestation of how we "do" politics in this country. Hallmarks of this text include: showing how campaigns can undermine our democracy and asking how democratic they-and by extension, our politics--really are; demonstrating that the ability of the media to accurately, fairly, and deeply report on campaigns has been severely compromised, both because of the growing "distance" between campaigns and media outlets and because of the structure of "Big Media" corporate ownership and its tight relationship to "Big Money." It asks important questions about the media including: How do the media, reporters in particular, cover campaigns? What pressures and forces shape what and how they present campaigns? What is the impact of the ever-increasing chasm separating campaigns and the media? How does the close tie between corporate mainstream media and Super PAC money affect campaign coverage? How does the ability of campaigns and media to segment voters into ever-smaller slices influence how campaigns are covered? tracking the continuing growth of unregulated, private, unaccountable "dark money" in campaigns as a threat to our democratic elections and politics. Democracy rests fundamentally on transparency and accountability - sunlight - and our campaign laws and norms now allow and encourage exactly the opposite, largely because of decisions by the United States Supreme Court.

To the outside world Deng Xiaoping represents a contradiction - he is both China's most successful moderniser, and the "Butcher of Beijing", China's supreme leader who must take responsibility for the events surrounding Tiananmen Square in June 1989. However, Deng the politition has no such contradiction: only the Chinese Communist Party can bring modernization to China. For Deng any threat to the Communist Party is a threat to the project of China's modernization. This book attempts to understand Deng's own particular role and the sources of his political power. Deng Xiaoping was involved with the communist movement before there was even a Communitst Party of China and his entire career has been shaped by both the party and the network of relationships and people within it. The author also explores the way in which Deng has survived being purged three times via his contacts with key politicians, Zhou Enlai in Paris in the early 1920s and Mao Zedong from 1933 to the early 1960s.

A Choice Highly Recommended Title-January 2017 This book is an interpretive analysis of political campaigns in America: instead of focusing on how campaigns are designed and run, it investigates the role campaigns play in our American politics, and the close symbiosis between campaigns and those politics. The text examines how campaigns are an important manifestation of how we "do" politics in this country. Hallmarks of this text include: showing how campaigns can undermine our democracy and asking how democratic they-and by extension, our politics--really are; demonstrating that the ability of the media to accurately, fairly, and deeply report on campaigns has been severely compromised, both because of the growing "distance" between campaigns and media outlets and because of the structure of "Big Media" corporate ownership and its tight relationship to "Big Money." It asks important questions about the media including: How do the media, reporters in particular, cover campaigns? What pressures and forces shape what and how they present campaigns? What is the impact of the ever-increasing chasm separating campaigns and the media? How does the close tie between corporate mainstream media and Super PAC money affect campaign coverage? How does the ability of campaigns and media to segment voters into ever-smaller slices influence how campaigns are covered? tracking the continuing growth of unregulated, private, unaccountable "dark money" in campaigns as a threat to our democratic elections and politics. Democracy rests fundamentally on transparency and accountability - sunlight - and our campaign laws and norms now allow and encourage exactly the opposite, largely because of decisions by the United States Supreme Court.

This book traces the development of modern Syria focusing on the contribution of the Ba'th party and Ba'thist ideology. It examines the roots of the Ba'th in the intellectual ferment of the 1940s and charts its growing influence on Syrian politics. Special attention is devoted to the crucial Sixth Congress of the Ba'th Party in 1963 and the key ideological document, the Muntalaqat, produced by Michel Aflaq. After 1963 the military became increasingly dominant until Hafiz al-Asad came to power in 1970. Since then the Party has been less dominant internally but Syria itself has established a pivotal position in regional affairs. The book concludes by reviewing the prospects for Syria after Asad and the potential for a Ba'thist revival.