Ethno-regionalist parties are an increasingly influential political phenomenon in many Western European countries. This volume provides an exploration of the successes and failures experienced by such parties in post-war Europe, looking in detail at the fortunes of 12 regionalist parties in the Basque country, Corsica, French-speaking Belgium, Scotland, Wales, Catalonia, Flanders, Italy and South Tyrol. Using these case studies and a common conceptual framework, the contributors focus on a number of factors that influence party identity and electoral and policy success. They also address other significant areas such as how the parties operate at the European Union level, their future evolution, and the implications for the party system and the larger political system of which they are a part.

Party politics has been undergoing a revival in many democracies. However, parties are much less studied in countries with unstable political regimes. Party interactions can help to provide explanations for the emergence and performance of regimes, whether of the democratic or authoritarian type. This book is a comprehensive case study that analyses, in depth, Turkish political parties. Starting with broad historical analysis, Huri Tursan takes the reader down to the most recent electoral activities and party politics in a country whose topicality is on the rise, not least due to its political problems. While the author deals with many issues of politics (including the role of the military), she focuses on an aspect of party competition which renders democracy problematic in Turkey, namely polarisation in party politics along cleavages.