Party and Democracy questions why political parties today are held
in such low estimation in advanced democracies. The first part of
the volume reviews theoretical motivations behind the growing
disdain for the political party. In surveying the parties' lengthy
attempt to gain legitimacy, particular attention is devoted to the
cultural and political conditions which led to their emergence on
the ground' and then to their political and theoretical acceptance
as the sole master in the chain of delegation. The second part
traces the evolution of the party's organization and public
confidence against the backdrop of the transition from industrial
to post-industrial societies. The book suggests that, in the
post-war period, parties shifted from a golden age of
organizational development and positive reception by public opinion
towards a more difficult relationship with society as it moved into
post industrialism. Parties were unable to master societal change
and thus moved towards the state to recover resources they were no
longer able to extract from their constituencies. Parties have
become richer and more powerful thanks to their interpenetration
into the state, but they have paid' for their pervasive presence in
society and the state with a declining legitimacy. Even if some
changes have been introduced recently in party organizations to
counteract their decline, they seem to have become ineffective;
even worse, they have dampened democratic standing inside and
outside parties, favouring plebiscitary tendencies. The party today
is caught in a dramatic contradiction. It has become a sort of
Leviathan with clay feet: very powerful thanks to the resources it
gets from the state and to its control of the societal and state
spheres, but very weak in terms of legitimacy and confidence in the
eyes of the mass public. However, it is argued that there is still
no alternative to the party. Democracy is still inextricably linked
to the party system.
General
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