This book provides an understanding of the role that Latino communities play in American politics. In a country marked by arbitrary and exclusionary electoral practices, minority political participation is central to remedying the inequity of the electoral process. The 1993 National Voter Registration act (NVRA) was enacted to compensate for past exclusionary electoral practices and was designed to equalize the political playing field so that disenfranchised groups could achieve parity. The author contends that, as a result, Latino communities are in a unique position to seize political clout. First, the growing numbers of Latino families in strategic electoral states are a significant proportion of the states' population. Second, the young Latino segment is in search of community reassurance. Third, the ever-increasing non-citizen population is demanding the political resources to become a voice for Latino community interests. Finally, Latino special interest groups are effectively conducting grass roots community-based voter registration strategies, including NVRA mail-in voter registration methods.

Social structure may historically have been of primary importance in accounting for the attitudes and behaviour of many citizens, but now changes in social structure have diminished the role played by class and religious affiliation, whilst the significance of personality in political leadership has increased. This volume explores, both theoretically and empirically, the increasingly important role played by the personalisation of leadership. Acknowledging the part played by social cleavages, it focuses on the personal relationships and psychological dimension between citizens and political leaders. It begins by examining the changes which have taken place in the relationship among citizens, the parties which they support and the leaders of these parties in a European context. The authors then assess how far the phenomena of ?personalised leadership? differ from country to country, and the forms which these differences take. The book includes comparative case studies on Britain and Northern Ireland, France, Italy, Poland, Japan and Thailand; it concentrates on eleven prominent leaders epitomising personalised political leadership: Thatcher, Blair, Mitterand, Chirac, Le Pen, Berlusconi, Bossi, Walesa, Lepper, Koizumi and Thaksin. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of political science, comparative politics and political leadership.

This is the first book to cover the centre-right in post-communist Eastern Europe.

It makes an vital contribution to the broader research agenda on the Central and East European centre-right by focusing on one specific question: why strong and cohesive centre-right formations have developed in some post-communist states, but not others. It also delves into the attempts to develop centre-right parties after 1989 in four nations: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. The authors of these fresh case studies use a common analytical framework to analyse and provide fascinating insights into the varying levels of cohesion in centre-right parties across the region.
This volume was previously published as a special issue of the Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics.

This is the first book that explains the Tea Party's successful "primary" campaign against Republicans in Name Only (RINOs). Grassroots Tea Party activists adopted this strategy in 2009 shortly after the movement emerged. The first successful campaign occurred in upstate New York where the Tea Party defeated Dede Scozzafava, a RINO running for congress in a Republican primary that only elected Republicans to office during the previous 100 years. Armed with success, they defeated "conservative" Utah Senator Bob Bennett an eighteen-year veteran and then proceeded to defeat the popular Republican (RINO) governor of Florida Charlie Crist and elected the virtually unknown Tea Party candidate, Marco Rubio. This placed all Republicans on notice that if they do not follow conservative fiscal policies, they could be "primaried." The Tea Party's goal is to take control of the Republican Party and return it to its original, fiscal conservatism.

First published in 1997, this volume departs from conventional analyses of Botswana's political economy and focuses on the second phase of Botswana's capitalist development from 1966-1990, arguing that even in a formally liberal democratic country, the imperatives of economic growth and development in a capitalist context give rise to the state's close supervision and control of organised labour. Taking inspiration from Marx's theories of history, Monageng Mogalakwe examines the capitalist form of the Botswana state and its relationships with the trade unions, labour law, industrial relations, class struggle and organised labour in a period characterised by direct state intervention in the economy and in industrial relations.

This book traces the beginnings of democracy in the three Himalayan kingdoms of Sikkim, Nepal and Bhutan. Charting the mobilisations and political experimentations that took place in the former buffer states under monarchies to establish democratic regimes, this book investigates their varying degrees of success, and offers a critical commentary on the consequent socio-political histories of this region. The volume sheds light on the nuances of their different geo-political contexts of the three Himalayan states, while tracing the social origins of the movements. It also undertakes a close analysis of the political participation and leadership involved to understand their achievements and limitations. A comprehensive analysis of a hitherto unexplored chapter in South Asian history, it will be of an immense interest to scholars and researchers of international relations, modern history, sociology and social anthropology, politics, South Asian studies, area studies, especially Nepal and Himalayan studies, as well as policy makers and government think tanks.

At the national level, political parties play an important role in making representative democracy work. They help to aggregate and communicate policy preferences, link decision-making between different legislative bodies and hold politicians accountable. In the European Union, however, the electoral connection is weak. This casts doubt on the impact of partisan politics at the European level. Are political parties able to fulfil their role as ?transmission belts? ensuring political accountability and consistent decision-making in the European Union? To answer this question we look at the micro foundations of partisan politics in the European Union.

The contributions in this volume all depart from a common theoretical framework but use a wide range of empirical data and research designs, covering qualitative process-tracing, elite interview and large-N quantitative analysis. Moreover, they examine party effects in the electoral and legislative arena. Finally, the volume covers all European institutions: the Commission, the Council of the European Union, the European Council and the European Parliament. The findings enhance our understanding of the workings of decision-making in Brussels, add to the debate on the EU democratic deficit, and highlight the usefulness of drawing upon insights from the literature on Comparative Politics when studying the European Union.

This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of European Public Policy.

The Justice and Development Party (AKP) were elected to power in 2002 and since then Turkish politics has undergone considerable change. This book is a comprehensive analysis of the AKP, in terms not just of its ideological agenda, but also of its social basis and performance in office in the main theatres of public policy - political reform, and cultural, economic and foreign policies.

Based on an extensive analysis of official and party documents, interviews, academic sources and media coverage, the book outlines the main features of the current global debate on the relationship between Islam, Islamism and democracy. While most top AKP leaders come from an Islamist background, the party has behaved as a moderate, centre-right, conservative democratic party who are fully committed to democracy, a free market economy and Turkey's EU membership. The book explores and analyses these changes in Turkish politics, and provides coverage of the workings of the contemporary Turkish political systems, policy and ideological issues that go to the heart of Turkish identity.

Filling a gap in the existing Turkish and English literature on the subject, this book will be an important contribution to Political Science, particularly the areas of Turkish politics, Middle Eastern studies, Islamic studies and comparative 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.

The Justice and Development Party (AKP) has been in power since 2002. This book is the first book-length analysis to chart the rise and development of the party from its Islamist roots through to government, analysing in particular its internal organisation and dynamics. Since its foundation in 2001, the AKP seems to have been more successful than any other party with an Islamic background in the history of the Turkish Republic. Drawing on interviews and analyses of quantitative data from primary and secondary sources, the author examines the party's character as an organisation, its internal power structure, its electoral roots, strategy and leadership in the context of its organisational environment - including its constitution, major veto players as well as international actors. Going beyond a mere analysis of Turkish politics and parties, this book applies classical theories and models on political parties to the Turkish case. Focusing on the notion of ?institutionalisation? and its two main dimensions, autonomy and ?systemness?, it makes an original contribution to both the empirical study of the AKP, contemporary Turkish Politics and the general discussion on theories of party organisation.

This book explores the Democratic and Republican Party platforms from 1840 to 2016. As the only official, institutionally sanctioned document espousing the parties' views on the state of the nation, the platforms present to the party faithful a diagnosis of what ails the country and the promise of possessing the necessary cure. In doing so, they offer more than a listing of specific issues in need of redress through legislative action, and moreover serve as a form of national storytelling through which political parties forge their vision of America and of what it means to be an American. Using topic modeling as an entry point into the documents, the author moves to consider more closely two related themes: those of how the platforms narrate the "American" self and individual freedom. With consideration of the extent to which the parties envision the self as an isolated economic actor or as an individual with a range of duties and obligations to a broader community, the spheres of action that they consider focal points for individual autonomy, and the extent to which they view liberty as freedom from restraint or freedom to act, this book sheds light on the historical trajectory of the growing fracture in American politics as well as the points of convergence across the two parties. Moreover, positing that behind their divisive rhetoric, both share a fundamental vision of what it means to be a "person," the author argues that perhaps their seemingly intractable differences are more a matter of degree than kind.

Building on a comprehensive theoretical framework that draws on discursive and ideational approaches to populism, this volume offers a comparative mapping of the Populist Radical Left in contemporary Europe. It explores the novel discursive, political and organisational features of several political actors, as well as the conditions of their emergence and success, while being alert to the role of relevant social movements. Chapters feature case studies of the Greek party Syriza, the Spanish Podemos, the German Die Linke, Jean-Luc Melenchon and France Insoumise, the Dutch Socialist Party and the Slovenian Levica. Jeremy Corbyn's leadership of Labour in the UK and 'Momentum', the movement that supports him is also examined. A separate chapter is devoted to recent grassroots social movements that can be seen as instances of progressive populism, such as the 'squares movement' in Spain and Greece. This book fills a crucial gap in the literature on radical left politics and populism in Europe, contributing to the rapidly burgeoning field of populism studies.

In the parliamentary system of government, manifestos constitute and represent an important aspect of the democratic electoral politics as statements of a party's ideology, response and policy. This book offers an examination of election manifestos of different political parties in India at the national level. It explores the manifesto as an input to the policy process and presents a comparative perspective and understanding on the issues and approaches of the national political parties on key affairs. The book traces the evolution of the electoral system, political parties and party manifestos in India as they emerged and developed over time. It looks at the Statutes of 1909, 1919 and 1935 along with the party manifestos and elections until 1945-46. The author further analyses Constituent Assembly debates on the electoral system and the stances of political parties on national reconstruction through documents from parties, including the Indian National Congress, the Communist Party of India, the Socialist Party, Jana Sangh and the All India Scheduled Castes Federation. Covering manifestos of sixteen Lok Sabha Elections (from the first general election of 1952 to 2014), this book provides a comprehensive overview of how major political parties think on significant social, economic, political, foreign and defence-related issues. It will be useful to scholars and researchers of political science, election studies, modern Indian history, public administration, law and governance, sociology, media and journalism as also to legislators and policymakers.

This volume looks at the impact of the landmark 2014 elections and the consequent Assembly elections which have transformed the ideological discourse of India. It discusses a variety of topical issues in contemporary Indian politics, including the Modi wave, Aam Aadmi Party and the challenges it is confronting today, Hindutva and minorities, the decline of the Congress party, changes in foreign policy, as well as phenomenona like 'love jihad' and ghar wapsi. It also draws together political trends from across the country, especially key states like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Seemandhra, West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, and Meghalaya. The volume will be of great importance to scholars and researchers of Indian politics, public policy, sociology, and social policy.

American Government: Constitutional Democracy Under Pressure highlights the necessary tension between our constitutional principles and institutions and the populist heat that sometimes roils our national politics, especially at the current political moment. Our constitutional democracy has been under pressure for some time, but few would deny that fears for its fate have deepened in just the past few years. We assume that our political institutions will limit and contain contemporary populism, just as the Founders intended and as they have in the past, but will they? An increasingly polarized electorate, urging their representatives to fight and never to compromise, may be stressing Constitutional limits. This new edition offers to help American government teachers lead their students to a nuanced theoretical and practical understanding of what is happening in the politics of their Constitutional democracy today. New to the Second Edition Further develops and highlights the distinguishing theme of the book, "Constitutional Democracy Under Pressure," in light of Trump Administration events over the last two years. Expands coverage of all media aspects including fake news, social media, responsible journalism, and related topics including foreign manipulation of the news. Includes the most recent election results. Addresses issues specific to the Trump Administration including unique coverage of the 25th Amendment, cabinet instability, election interferences, executive power and unitary action, and impact on the courts. Updates in all tables, figures, suggested readings plus photo updates throughout.

The national committees of the major political parties in the United States are symbols of party government. They carry forward a national heritage of peaceful change in national politics and administration. National committees are substitutes for party ideologies, yet they are pretty much headless, drifting organizations. Cotter and Hennessy explain why this is the case, arguing that the vagueness of the committees' responsibilities between presidential elections is one of the main sources of their limitations.

"Politics without Power" explains what the national committees are, who belongs to them, where they are located in relation to other politically oriented organizations, what they do, and what steps might be taken to make better use of them. Although the authors' descriptions in this classic volume are straightforward, their recommendations are sweepingly bold. A few have been instituted in part, but most have yet to be adopted. If they were, it would completely change the makeup of the two committees and the political processes.

Among their proposals are that the offi ces of national committeeman and committeewoman should be abolished, that the national chairman of the in-party continue to be chosen by the president or candidate, and the national chairman of the out-party be the titular head of that committee. The out-party should have a party council to interpret the platform and to recommend a platform to the national convention. There should be a tax credit for small contributions to the national committee or state committees, and each national committee would have its own building shared with the Congressional Campaign Committees. This book will interest political scientists, politicians, and other students of American politics and elections.

"Cornelius P. Cotter" was professor of political science and chairman of the Department of Political Science at the Wichita State University. He has been a Republican National Committee Faculty Fellow and served as assistant to the chairman of the Republican National Committee.

"Bernard C. Hennessy" was the director of the National Center for Education in Politics and professor of politics at the New York University School of Law. He has been a Democratic National Committee Faculty Fellow.

Over the past seven decades and more, political parties have become an essential feature of the political landscape of the South Asian subcontinent, serving both as a conduit and product of the tumultuous change the region has experienced. Yet they have not been the focus of sustained scholarly attention. This collection focuses on different aspects of how major parties have been agents of - and subject to - change in three South Asian states (India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka), examining some of the apparent paradoxes of politics in the subcontinent and covering issues such as gender, religion, patronage, clientelism, political recruitment and democratic regression. Recurring themes are the importance of personalities (and the corresponding neglect of institutionalisation) and the lack of pluralism in intraparty affairs, factors that render parties and political systems vulnerable to degeneration. This book was published as a special issue of Commonwealth and Comparative Politics.

Presents a brilliant, persuasive case that American political parties, so often dismissed as immature or ineffective compared with their European counterparts, are in fact old and durable political organizations, seriving well the needs of a pluralistic society. What chiefly distinguishes this work is the inclusion of considerable material on American partics in a comparative context to the analysis of British, Scandinavian, European, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand political parties.

First published in 1999, this volume is based on interviews and research from previously unavailable party, state and private archives, this insightful volume reflects on the interaction between institutional structure and world-view that we call political culture. Using Labour's post-war welfare policy, this informative study makes three key points: The need to break down distinctions between the 'symbolic' and the 'substantial' in politics. The potential of 'Grid-Group' or 'Cultural' Theory as a way of understanding party political culture. The crucial but self-defeating role that welfare policy has played in Labour's efforts to manage itself, win support and govern competently. The well-documented research leads to the conclusion that New Labour's much-heralded desire to 'think the unthinkable' about welfare is largely rhetorical if one recalls what Labour did in office rather than promised in opposition. The Government's welfare reforms, rather than constituting a serious attempt to confront new social realities, are in fact par for the course. Political scientists cannot ignore the new government's past. Political historians need to appreciate the patterns woven in a welter of detail and social democratic defensiveness. By fusing a realist conception of statecraft, an 'interpretavist' interest in symbols and a predictive comparative model of the interaction between ideology and organisation, this authoritative work will enable readers to do just that.

As Jacob Zuma moves into the twilight years of his presidencies of both the African National Congress (ANC) and of South Africa, this book takes stock of the Zuma-led administration and its impact on the ANC. Dominance and Decline: The ANC in the Time of Zuma combines hard-hitting arguments with astute analysis. Susan Booysen shows how the ANC has become centred on the personage of Zuma, and that its defence of his extremely flawed leadership undermines the party’s capacity to govern competently, and to protect its long term future.

Following on from her first book, The African National Congress and the Regeneration of Power (2011), Booysen delves deeper into the four faces of power that characterise the ANC. Her principal argument is that the state is failing as the president’s interests increasingly supersede those of party and state. Organisationally, the ANC has become a hegemon riven by factions, as the internal blocs battle for core positions of power and control. Meanwhile, the Zuma-controlled ANC has witnessed the implosion of the tripartite alliance and decimation of its youth, women’s and veterans’ leagues. Electorally, the leading party has been ceding ground to increasingly assertive opposition parties. And on the policy front, it is faltering through poor implementation and a regurgitation of old ideas. As Zuma’s replacements start competing and succession politics takes shape, Booysen considers whether the ANC will recover from the damage wrought under Zuma’s reign and attain its former glory. Ultimately, she believes that while the damage is irrevocable, the electorate may still reward the ANC for transcending the Zuma years.

This is a must-have reference book on the development of the modern ANC. With rigour and incisiveness, Booysen offers scholars and researchers a coherent framework for considering future patterns in the ANC and its hold on political power.

Recent electoral success of the Freedom Party in Austria, List Pim Fortuyn in The Netherlands, the People's Party in Denmark and the National Front in France have demonstrated the appeal of parties that challenge the political establishment. This book seeks to explain why these parties have achieved a political breakthrough, but unlike other studies in the area does not concentrate on only one type of party. Instead it attempts to determine preconditions for the success of anti-political establishment parties in general, avoiding any time specific or ideology specific explanations.

Contrary to the expectations of many people, China's recent economic growth has not led to the collapse of the Chinese Communist Party. In fact, the Party has recently carried out a peaceful and orderly transition to the so-called fourth generation of leadership, has revitalised itself, and created a new, younger and better trained cadre corps. Despite this successful transformation, there continue to be many problems that the Party will need to overcome if it is to remain in power, including pressures for democratization in both urban and rural areas, widespread corruption, the emergence of new social groups, and increasing dissatisfaction among workers who seem to be losing out in the present transition process.
The Chinese Communist Party in Reform explores the current state of the Chinese Communist Party and the many challenges that it faces. It considers the dynamics of development in China, the Party organization, recruitment and management, and the Party's role in society more widely. It concludes by examining the prospects for the future of the Party, including whether it will continue to be able to accommodate socio-economic changes within China and pressures from abroad, and the likely nature of its evolution. Overall, this book provides a comprehensive assessment of the internal dynamics of the Chinese Communist Party and its role in Chinese society.

This book addresses the paradox of political mobilization and the failings of governance in India, with reference to the conflict between secularism and Hindu nationalism, authoritarianism and democracy.
It demonstrates how the Internal Emergency of 1975 led to increased support of groups such as the BJS and the RSS, accounting for the rise of political movements advocating Hindu nationalism - Hindutva - as a response to rapid political mobilization triggered by the Emergency, and an attempt by political elites to control this to their advantage. Vernon Hewitt argues that the political disjuncture between democracy and mobilization in India is partly a function of the Indian state, the nature of a caste-class based society, but also - and significantly - the contingencies of individual leaders and the styles of rule. He shows how, in the wake of the Emergency, the BJP and the RSS gained popularity and power amid the on-going decline and fragmentation of the Congress, whilst, at the same time, Hindu nationalism appeared to be of such importance that Congress began aligning themselves with the Hindu right for electoral gains. The volume suggests that, in the light of these developments, the rise of the BJP should not be considered as remarkable - or as transformative - as was at first imagined.

China watching is anything but being boring because Chinese politics is filled with dramas almost on a daily basis. In the past three years since Xi Jinping became general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, the Chinese political drama has unfolded with a lot of twists and turns.Based on a series of articles published on the Diplomat, this volume offers snapshots of different episodes of the political drama from December 2014 to January 2016, focusing mostly on the main character of the show - President Xi Jinping and serving as an appetizer for those who are hungry about Chinese elite politics.

Published in 1997, This book offers an up-to-date guide to the Green parties of Western Europe as the optimism of the 1980s confronts the 'Green fatigue' of the 1990s. The approach is both thematic and comparative. Green politics in Europe is located in its historical and cultural context. There is a comparative analysis of the principal ideological questions , policy issues and strategic dilemmas that have confronted the European Greens. There are national profiles of Green politics throughout the European Union. The conclusion addresses the critical issue of political change in post industrial societies. It discusses the contribution of Green parties to the 'New Politics' and assesses their likely impact on post-modern politics