The age of party democracy has passed, argues Peter Mair in Ruling the Void. The major parties have become so disconnected from society that they no longer seem capable of sustaining democracy in its present form. First published in 2013, Ruling the Void presciently observed that the widening gap between citizens and their political leaders posed a crisis of legitimacy for the governing class, and was fuelling populist mobilizations against it. Europe's political elites had remodelled themselves as a homogeneous professional class, withdrawing into state institutions that offer relative stability in a world of fickle voters. Meanwhile, non-democratic agencies and practices proliferated - not least among them the European Union itself. Mair weighs the impact of these changes, and offers an authoritative assessment of the prospects for popular political representation today, not only in the varied democracies of Britain and the EU but throughout the developed world. With a new Introduction by Chris Bickerton, author of The European Union: A Citizen's Guide.

This book confronts and discusses different conceptions of political representation with respect to their application to the system of multi-level governance in the European Union. Political representation is an essentially contested concept. Its meaning has evolved with the development of representative democracy at the level of the nation state, and normative theories of political representation often evolved as a reflection on developing practices rather than the other way around. Since the EU is not a conventional nation state, and since the effectiveness and legitimacy of classic notions of political representation at the level of the national state has also become a matter of dispute, the EU has become a playground for the development of alternative or additional conceptions of democracy. The contributions to this volume evaluate these alternative conceptions with regard to both their effectiveness and their legitimacy, and combine both conceptual and empirical analyses. This book was based on a special issue of Journal of European Public Policy.

This book arises out of a specially commissioned issue of West European Politics marking the journal's 30th anniversary. It examines the profound changes in the European political landscape over the last three decades, including the fall of Communism; progressive European integration; territorial restructuring; public sector reforms at European, national, regional and local levels; changes in democratic participation, protest, elections, political communication, political parties and party competition; and challenges to the welfare state. The book also discusses how political science has responded to these changes in terms of its substantive focus, concepts, methods and theories. Many of the 17 contributions included identify important challenges for the future, including those stemming from EU integration, the reduced electoral accountability of politicians, the problematic legitimation of party government and the sharpening of the edges of the state. Contributors include K. A. Anderson, F. C. Castles, C. Crouch, M. Egeberg. M. Ferrera, H. Goetz, L. Hooghe, E. M. Immergut, R. F. Inglehart, M. Keating, H.-D. Klingemann H. Kriesi, M. Lodge, J. Lovenduski, P. Mair, G. Marks, Y. M ny, L. Morlino, H. Obinger, V. A. Schmidt, P. C. Schmitter, and G. Smith.

This book was published as a special issue of West European Politics.

This book confronts and discusses different conceptions of political representation with respect to their application to the system of multi-level governance in the European Union. Political representation is an essentially contested concept. Its meaning has evolved with the development of representative democracy at the level of the nation state, and normative theories of political representation often evolved as a reflection on developing practices rather than the other way around.

Since the EU is not a conventional nation state, and since the effectiveness and legitimacy of classic notions of political representation at the level of the national state has also become a matter of dispute, the EU has become a playground for the development of alternative or additional conceptions of democracy. The contributions to this volume evaluate these alternative conceptions with regard to both their effectiveness and their legitimacy, and combine both conceptual and empirical analyses.

This book was based on a special issue of Journal of European Public Policy.

This book arises out of a specially commissioned issue of West European Politics marking the journal's 30th anniversary. It examines the profound changes in the European political landscape over the last three decades, including the fall of Communism; progressive European integration; territorial restructuring; public sector reforms at European, national, regional and local levels; changes in democratic participation, protest, elections, political communication, political parties and party competition; and challenges to the welfare state. The book also discusses how political science has responded to these changes in terms of its substantive focus, concepts, methods and theories. Many of the 17 contributions included identify important challenges for the future, including those stemming from EU integration, the reduced electoral accountability of politicians, the problematic legitimation of party government and the sharpening of the edges of the state. Contributors include K. A. Anderson, F. C. Castles, C. Crouch, M. Egeberg. M. Ferrera, H. Goetz, L. Hooghe, E. M. Immergut, R. F. Inglehart, M. Keating, H.-D. Klingemann H. Kriesi, M. Lodge, J. Lovenduski, P. Mair, G. Marks, Y. M?ny, L. Morlino, H. Obinger, V. A. Schmidt, P. C. Schmitter, and G. Smith.

This book was published as a special issue of West European Politics.

Party Patronage and Party Government in European Democracies brings together insights from the worlds of party politics and public administration in order to analyze the role of political parties in public appointments across contemporary Europe. Based on an extensive new data gathered through expert interviews in fifteen European countries, this book offers the first systematic comparative assessment of the scale of party patronage and its role in sustaining modern party governments. Among the key findings are: First, patronage appointments tend to be increasingly dominated by the party in public office rather than being used or controlled by the party organization outside parliament. Second, rather than using appointments as rewards, as used to be the case in more clientelistic systems in the past, parties are now more likely to emphasize appointments that can help them to manage the infrastructure of government and the state. In this way patronage becomes an organizational rather than an electoral resource. Third, patronage appointments are increasingly sourced from channels outside of the party, thus helping to make parties look increasingly like network organizations, primarily constituted by their leaders and their personal and political hinterlands. Comparative Politics is a series for students, teachers, and researchers of political science that deals with contemporary government and politics. Global in scope, books in the series are characterised by a stress on comparative analysis and strong methodological rigour. The series is published in association with the European Consortium for Political Research. For more information visit: www.essex.ac.uk/ecpr The Comparative Politics series is edited by Professor David M. Farrell, School of Politics and International Relations, University College Dublin, Kenneth Carty, Professor of Political Science, University of British Columbia, and Professor Dirk Berg-Schlosser, Institute of Political Science, Philipps University, Marburg.

Focusing upon the emerging patterns of unity and diversity in the enlarged European Union, this study explores enlargement from the East and the impact this will have on the future identity of Europe.

First Published in 1990. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor and Francis, an informa company.

First Published in 1990. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

In recent years there has been a considerable effort in some transnational organizations and institutions to confront a crisis of legitimacy by promising more accountability and openness. This volume takes as its central focus the role of accountability in democratic governance, and attempts to position a broad understanding of the notion of accountability within the overall context of the evolving political system of governance in Europe and in particular of the European Union. Bringing together new work by some of the leading scholars in the field, this volume considers the relationship between accountability and a wide range of other themes in European governance such as problems of representation, transparency, bureaucracy, and transnational relations. The volume also deals with the role of accountability in multi-level governance, and its relationship to both direct democracy and civil society. This book was published as a special issue of West European Politics.

The European Union will be a much more diversified entity after the forthcoming eastward enlargement. The applicant states from Eastern Europe are much poorer than the current member states from Western Europe. Their democracy and in some cases even their statehood is newly established and presumably more fragile. Their economic, legal and administrative structures are less developed. This collection of essays will try to examine the origin, nature, scale and implications of this divergence. How much divergence is likely to be imported by the Union and will it hamper the process of European integration?

In recent years there has been a considerable effort in some transnational organizations and institutions to confront a crisis of legitimacy by promising more accountability and openness. This volume takes as its central focus the role of accountability in democratic governance, and attempts to position a broad understanding of the notion of accountability within the overall context of the evolving political system of governance in Europe and in particular of the European Union. Bringing together new work by some of the leading scholars in the field, this volume considers the relationship between accountability and a wide range of other themes in European governance such as problems of representation, transparency, bureaucracy, and transnational relations. The volume also deals with the role of accountability in multi-level governance, and its relationship to both direct democracy and civil society. This book was published as a special issue of West European Politics.

With a total population of some 500 million, the unified countries of modern Europe constitute the world's largest collection of successful capitalist democracies. Yet within it, there are distinct clusters of states, each with its own characteristics, historical allegiances and political processes.Combining superb scholarship and rigorous empirical data with an accessible and engaging writing style, Representative Government in Modern Europe remains the leading textbook on comparativeEuropean politics. The fifth edition reflects key events and changes including the impact of the world financial and economic crisis; the EU's adoption of the Lisbon Treaty; and the election of a centre-right governments in Germany and the UK. Retaining its comprehensive thematic approach to Europe as an integrated whole, while reflecting the continued importance of the EU, the new edition explores the key themes emerging in European politics: the importance of political leadership, the rise of the populist and extreme right, the personalisation of politics, ethnicity, citizen participation.

This unique and important new book looks at how we interpret the evidence of change and stability in modern parties and party systems. Focusing primarily on processes of political adaptation and control, it also concerns how parties and party systems generate their own momentum and 'freeze' themselves into place. Amidst the widespread contemporary discussion of the challenge to modern democracy and the crisis of traditional forms of political representation, it offers a welcome emphasis on how party systems survive, and on how change, when it does occur, may be analysed and understood. The first part of the book deals with questions of persistence and change, and with the vulnerability and endurance of traditional parties. In the second part, attention shifts to the question of party organization, and to the ways in which the established parties are increasingly coming to invade the state, finding there a new source of privilege and a new means of ensuring their own survival. The third part of the book focuses on structures of competition in Western party systems, as well as on the problems associated with the consolidation of the new party systems in post-communist Europe. This is the first book to be entirely devoted to the question of party and party system change, and offers and essential guide to the understanding of this crucial theme. 'Peter Mair has produced a book that represents political science at its most erudite . . . It is a learned work based on wide reading. It is brimming with references to the contributions of other scholars.' Times Higher Education Supplement 'Building on several previously published essays of his, Mair has produced a precious little book. I particularly admire his ability to construct his argument with reference to the existing theories and to buttress it resorting to the available data. Moreover, he cleverly suggests different lines of interpretation and areas where new research is needed....there is a lot to be learned and to be utilised in Mair's analysis. The book is to be commended both for what it says and for what it suggests'. Gianfranco Pasquino, West European Politics 'With this volume Peter Mair brings together nearly a decade's worth of his work on European political parties. All but two chapters have been previously published, but in such a range of locations that the breadth and depth of his scholarship will likely have been underappreciated by all but the most dedicated students of European political parties. . . . The book has many strengths. It offers an important counterpoint to a literature that has become perhaps too focused on survey research and the behaviour of voters. The distinctions made between party system, party as organization and party in the electorate, while not completely novel, have been used with good effect to clarify the analysis of electoral change. Mair has drawn our attention, once again, to the intriguing notion of party autonomy vis-(-vis the state and civil society. The book is exceptionally clearly written and displays the author's encyclopedic knowledge of European political parties. Donald E. Blake, Canadian Journal of Political Science

This unique and important new book looks at how we interpret the evidence of change and stability in modern parties and party systems. Focusing primarily on processes of political adaptation and control, it also concerns how parties and party systems generate their own momentum and `freeze' themselves into place. Amidst the widespread contemporary discussion of the challenge to modern democracy and the crisis of traditional forms of political representation, it offers a welcome emphasis on how party systems survive, and on how change, when it does occur, may be analysed and understood. The first part of the book deals with questions of persistence and change, and with the vulnerability and endurance of traditional parties. In the second part, attention shifts to the question of party organization, and to the ways in which the established parties are increasingly coming to invade the state, finding there a new source of privilege and a new means of ensuring their own survival. The third part of the book focuses on structures of competition in Western party systems, as well as on the problems associated with the consolidation of the new party systems in post-communist Europe. This is the first book to be entirely devoted to the question of party and party system change, and offers and essential guide to the understanding of this crucial theme.

The analysis of party systems in Western Europe has long constituted a major focus of concern in comparative political science. Many of the classic writings in this field have here been collected into a single volume. "The West European Party System" contains seminal writings by Weber, Neuman, Duverger, Kirchheimer, Daalder, Rookan and Sartori, as well as a selection from the more recent debates on changes in European party systems, including the contributions of Pedersen, Wolinetz and Inglehart. The collection as a whole covers the development, stabilization and transformation of party systems and includes some of the key analyses which have sought to distinguish between different types of party system. The essays are among the most widely-cited in the contemporary literature on comparative West European politics.

This collection brings together some of the most significant and influential work by leading comparativist Peter Mair (1951-2011). The selection ranges from considerations on the relevance of concept formation to the study of party systems and party organisations; and from reflections on the democratic legitimacy of the European Union to the future of party democracy. Including frequently cited papers alongside lesser-known work, the writings collected in this volume attest to the broad scope and depth of Mair's insights into comparative party politics, and the changing realities of party government. As such, they form an important and enduring contribution to the study of politics, and a fitting tribute to an inspirational and much-missed figure in the global political science community. Edited and introduced by Ingrid van Biezen, with an intellectual portrait of Peter Mair by Stefano Bartolini and Hans Daalder.

This collection brings together some of the most significant and influential work by leading comparativist Peter Mair (1951-2011). The selection ranges from considerations on the relevance of concept formation to the study of party systems and party organisations; and from reflections on the democratic legitimacy of the European Union to the future of party democracy. Including frequently cited papers alongside lesser-known work, the writings collected in this volume attest to the broad scope and depth of Mair's insights into comparative party politics, and the changing realities of party government. As such, they form an important and enduring contribution to the study of politics, and a fitting tribute to an inspirational and much-missed figure in the global political science community. Edited and introduced by Ingrid van Biezen, with an intellectual portrait of Peter Mair by Stefano Bartolini and Hans Daalder.

The question of whether Western party systems were becoming more unstable and electorates more volatile had already become central to the study of modern European by the end of the 1970s. Much of the literature at the time stressed how Western Europe was experiencing a phase of party breakdown, dealignment and decay, and how traditional mass politics was in the process of transformation. In this first book-length analysis of the subject, Stefano Bartolini and Peter Mair convincingly demonstrated how this emphasis on change had been largely misconceived and misplaced. This was the first systematic and conceptually sophisticated work to bring together the study of electoral change and cleavage persistence, and has since become one of the landmark volumes in the study of electoral politics in Europe. The authors examine patterns of electoral persistence and change in Western Europe between 1885 and 1985. They assess both what these patterns indicate with regard to the persistence of traditional cleavages, particularly the class cleavage, and how these patterns vary according to political, institutional and social factors. They analyse the various patterns of competition which have characterised elections across the different European countries and in different historical periods, and how cleavages can persist and re-emerge even in the face of widespread social change. They develop a sophisticated model of aggregate electoral change, in which national electorates are conceived as being torn between the stability brought about by cultural identities and organisational structures and the stimuli for change that are provoked by party competition and institutional change. Identity, Competition and Electoral Availability was awarded the Stein Rokkan Prize for Comparative Social Science Research and is now reprinted for the first time in paperback.

Political parties have long been recognized as essential institutions of democratic governance. Both the organization of parties, and their relationships with citizens, the state, and each other have evolved since the rise of liberal democracy in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Going into the 21st century, it appears that parties losing popular support, putting both parties, and potentially democracy, in peril. This book traces the evolution of parties from the model of the mass party, through the catch-all party model, to argue that by the late 20th century the principal governing parties and (and their allied smaller parties - collectively the political 'mainstream') were effectively forming a cartel, in which the form of competition might remain, and indeed even appear to intensify, while its substance was increasingly hollowed out. The spoils of office were increasingly shared rather than restricted to the temporary winners; contentious policy questions were kept off the political agenda, and competition shifted from large questions of policy to minor questions of managerial competence. To support this cartel, the internal arrangements of parties changed to privilege the party in public office over the party on the ground. The unintended consequence has been to stimulate the rise of extra-cartel challengers to these cozy arrangements in the form of anti-party-system parties and populist oppositions on the left, but especially on the right. Comparative Politics is a series for researchers, teachers, and students of political science that deals with contemporary government and politics. Global in scope, books in the series are characterised by a stress on comparative analysis and strong methodological rigour. The series is published in association with the European Consortium for Political Research. For more information visit: www.ecprnet.eu. The series is edited by Emilie van Haute, Professor of Political Science, Universite libre de Bruxelles; Ferdinand Muller-Rommel, Director of the Center for the Study of Democracy, Leuphana University; and Susan Scarrow, John and Rebecca Moores Professor of Political Science, University of Houston.

How have Europe's mainstream political parties responded to the long-term decline in voter loyalties?

What are the consequences for parties of this change in the electoral markets

in which they now operate?

Popular disengagement, disaffection, and withdrawal on the one hand, and increasing popular support for protest parties, on the other, have become the hallmarks of modern European politics. This book provides a comparative overview and account of how the parties in Western Europe have perceived these contemporary challenges of electoral dealignment and how they have responded - whether organizationally, programmatically, or institutionally.

Each chapter employs a common format to present and compare the changing strategies of established parties and party systems in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, and Ireland.

Together they serve to provide new insights into how the parties have sought to deal with new electoral uncertainties, as well as into the question of how institutional, technological or cultural changes might also be seen to constitute part of the party response.

The result is an invaluable comparative portrait of contemporary party strategies and a very full analysis of how parties interact with one other, and with the voters. It will be essential reading for anybody seeking a deeper understanding of today's electoral politics and of the challenges facing contemporary west European party systems.

This book takes a close look inside political parties, bringing together the findings of an international team of leading scholars. Building on a unique set of cross-national data on party organizations, the contributors set out to explain how parties organize, how they have changed and how they have adapted to the changing political and organizational circumstances in which they find themselves. The contributors are recognized authorities on the party systems of their countries, and have all been involved in gathering data on party membership, party finance and the internal structure of power. They add to the analysis of these original data an expert knowledge of the wider political patterns in their countries, and thus provide insight into the development of parties and party systems from the perspective of party organizations themselves. How Parties Organize offers the most systematic and comparable analysis of party organization in contemporary Europe and the United States.