Read complete books and articles on: Political Parties

Party, Political - organization whose aim is to gain control of the government apparatus, usually through the election of its candidates to public office. Political parties take many forms, but their main functions are similar: to supply personnel for government positions; to organize these personnel around the formation and implementation of public policy; and to serve in a mediating role between individuals and their government. Political parties are as old as organized political systems. For example, many of the ancient Greek city-states had organized, competitive parties. Political parties have been organized for various reasons: to support a particular political figure, to advance a particular policy or a general ideological stand, to aid politically certain groups or sections of society, or merely to combine for short-term political advantage. Political parties have also been organized in various ways; in some, control is exercised by a small central elite, either elected or self-perpetuating, while in others, power is decentralized, with candidate picking and decision making spread among local party units. The modern mass political party has taken shape in the last century, along with the rise of democratic ideology, universal suffrage, nationalism, and more effective means of communication. Such a party is commonly categorized by the type of party system in which it operates. In a noncompetitive or one-party system, the party is often employed as part of the governing apparatus, with the functions of maintaining public support for the regime, encouraging popular participation in government programs, and alerting the government to changes in public opinion. In competitive systems, a distinction may be made between two-party systems, which seem to encourage a party strategy of moderation and compromise aimed at obtaining a majority vote, and multiparty systems, where there is less compromise and where a party's strategy emphasizes retaining the support of its core voters. In general, however, the structure and behavior of a particular country's political parties depends most heavily on the country's political and cultural history.

See V. O. Key, Politics, Parties and Pressure Groups (5th ed. 1964); S. M. Lipset and S. Rokkan, ed., Party Systems and Voter Alignments (1967); R. S. Katz, A Theory of Parties and Electoral Systems (1981); R. L. McCormick, ed., Political Parties and the Modern State (1984); K. Von Beyme, Political Parties in Western Democracies (1985).

Show Excerpt Only

16 of the Best Books and Articles on: Political Parties

as selected by Questia librarians

1.

How Political Parties Work: Perspectives from Within » Read Now
by Kay Lawson. 320 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

This important volume examines the inner dynamics of political parties with the intention of finding out how parties really work. Specialists on Germany, France, New Zealand, Norway, Japan, India, Belgium, Israel, Poland, Britain, and the United States provide analyses of the ways in which power is...
Read More

This important volume examines the inner dynamics of political parties with the intention of finding out how parties really work. Specialists on Germany, France, New Zealand, Norway, Japan, India, Belgium, Israel, Poland, Britain, and the United States provide analyses of the ways in which power is developed and exercised in those countries--who is trying to do what, within the party and by means of the party, and how successful they are. Political parties are not monoliths, as they have tended to be treated in party system research; rather, they have differentiated internal structures, layers, and levels, and on each of these the motivations and objectives of the participants may be very different. By looking within, these authors provide an understanding of the internal play of party power and why parties function as they do within the broader political arena.
Show less
2.

Political Parties and Party Systems » Read Now
by Alan Ware. 436 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

This is an introduction to the study of political parties and party systems. It focusses primarily on liberal deocracies and th eapproach is a comparative one. The book's aim is to explain to students of politics how and why parties and party systems differ from one country to another. However, it...
Read More

This is an introduction to the study of political parties and party systems. It focusses primarily on liberal deocracies and th eapproach is a comparative one. The book's aim is to explain to students of politics how and why parties and party systems differ from one country to another. However, it also seeks to provide a more detailed understanding of party politics in five particular countries. Most of the chapters are divided into two sections. In the first section general themes and arguments about a topic are introduced, and examples from a large number of countries are discussed in relation to it. In the second section, particular attention is paid to five of the largest liberal democracies - Britain, France, Germany, Japan, and the United States.
Show less
3.

Political Parties: Old Concepts and New Challenges » Read Now
by Richard Gunther, Juan J. Linz, Jose Ramon Montero. 361 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library
4.

Local Parties in Political and Organizational Perspective » Read Now
by Martin Saiz, Hans Geser. 350 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

Addressing a neglected branch of community politics, i.e. the comparative analysis of local political parties, this text looks at a variety of relations between political systems and local communities in different nations.
5.

Party Elites in Divided Societies: Political Parties in Consociational Democracy » Read Now
by Kurt Richard Luther, Kris Deschouwer. 292 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

Working from the basis of Arend Lijphart's 1968 work on divided societies, the authors go on to look at such cultures and subcultures thirty years on, bringing in new evidence and analysis to bear on the issue. They also examine the essential role of party politics within and between these ^D "...
Read More

Working from the basis of Arend Lijphart's 1968 work on divided societies, the authors go on to look at such cultures and subcultures thirty years on, bringing in new evidence and analysis to bear on the issue. They also examine the essential role of party politics within and between these ^D ", framing comparisons with a number of countries from Belgium to Israel.
Show less
6.

Parliamentary Party Groups in European Democracies: Political Parties behind Closed Doors » Read Now
by Knut Heidar, Ruud Koole. 304 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

The partisan groups in parliament form the link between mass suffrage, parties and parliaments, and are generally accepted today as necessary instruments of parliamentary business. Parliamentary party groups are central actors in most European democracies. This volume analyses the manifestations and...
Read More

The partisan groups in parliament form the link between mass suffrage, parties and parliaments, and are generally accepted today as necessary instruments of parliamentary business. Parliamentary party groups are central actors in most European democracies. This volume analyses the manifestations and operations of these actors across thirteen different countries and in the European parliament.
Show less
7.

European Political Parties and the European Union: Some Disintegrating Trends of Integration, in World Affairs » Read Now
by Christianne C. Hardy. 9 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...European Political Parties and the European Union: Some Disintegrating...issue and disappear when mainstream political parties articulate a position on that...
8.

The Organization of Political Parties in Southern Europe » Read Now
by Piero Ignazi, Colette Ysmal. 314 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

This is the most up-to-date and comprehensive anaysis of the organization of the political parties of France, Spain, Italy, and Greece. Conceived and framed with a common theoretical approach, four national teams of researchers followed a structural approach to the study of party organization, and...
Read More

This is the most up-to-date and comprehensive anaysis of the organization of the political parties of France, Spain, Italy, and Greece. Conceived and framed with a common theoretical approach, four national teams of researchers followed a structural approach to the study of party organization, and they have underlined the various characteristics of the parties. The party analyses are not limited, however, to the usual measures of party organization--number of members, local branches, elected officials--or to their formal rules. Rather, the chapters highlight the power relationships among the various actors, leaders, and factions. This major work will be invaluable to all researchers and scholars dealing with contemporary European politics and party systems.
Show less
9.

Two Parties--Or More? The American Party System » Read Now
by John F. Bibby, L. Sandy Maisel. 160 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

This work answers key questions by first placing the dilemma in the context of recent elections - at both the state and federal level - and by defining the types of minor parties and of the roles they play.
10.

Political Parties, Interest Groups, and Political Campaigns » Read Now
by Ronald J. Hrebenar, Matthew J. Burbank, Robert C. Benedict. 336 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...Political Parties, Interest Groups, and Political Campaigns Political Parties, Interest Groups, and Political...Cataloging-in-Publication Data Political parties, interest...
11.

Political Parties of the Americas, 1980s to 1990s: Canada, Latin America, and the West Indies » Read Now
by Charles D. Ameringer. 700 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

This major new reference surveys political parties of importance in the Americas since 1980, with the exclusion of the United States. This one-volume work has been fashioned both to update Robert J. Alexander's prize-winning two-volume set published in 1982, Political Parties of the Americas, and to...
Read More

This major new reference surveys political parties of importance in the Americas since 1980, with the exclusion of the United States. This one-volume work has been fashioned both to update Robert J. Alexander's prize-winning two-volume set published in 1982, Political Parties of the Americas, and to serve as a new analysis of political development and political parties in 49 countries in the Western Hemisphere during the last decade. Ameringer, with contributions by a score of well-known scholars, covers parties of importance and current political trends. Includes chronology, cross-references, and a full index.
Show less
12.

The New Democrats' Search for Relevance as a Nudge Party, in American Review of Canadian Studies » Read Now
by Howard Cody. 21 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...18. 7. A. Brian Tanguay, "Political Parties and Canadian Democracy: Making...Female Leaders of Canadian Political Parties," in Manon Tremblay and Linda...A. Brian Tanguay...
13.

A Net Opportunity: Australian Political Parties on the Internet, in Melbourne Journal of Politics » Read Now
by Sally Young. 19 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...net opportunity: Australian political parties on the Internet. by...personalised and interactive. Political parties are in complete control of...of the two major Australian...
14.

The Role of Minor Political Parties in Taiwan, in World Affairs » Read Now
by John F. Copper. 14 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...The Role of Minor Political Parties in Taiwan By JOHN F. COPPER...small parties, but forming new political parties was against the law. In 1987...terminated and...
15.

Elections and Political Parties in Hong Kong's Political Development, in Journal of Contemporary Asia » Read Now
by Joseph Y. S. Cheng. 29 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

...Elections and Political Parties in Hong Kongs Political Development...and the Initial Development of Political Parties In response to the Sino-British...Elections and the...
16.

Political Parties of the Middle East and North Africa » Read Now
by Frank Tachau. 718 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

This major reference provides comprehensive coverage of the political parties and movements in the countries of the Middle East and North Africa. Frank Tachau and a group of prestigious scholars and internationally acclaimed experts on the region's political history describe the formation...
Read More

This major reference provides comprehensive coverage of the political parties and movements in the countries of the Middle East and North Africa. Frank Tachau and a group of prestigious scholars and internationally acclaimed experts on the region's political history describe the formation, evolution, and impact of parties in each of the 19 countries that are surveyed, and they also discuss Palestinian and Kurdish political groups. Bibliographies accompany each chapter. The two appendixes are chronologies of important dates in the political developments in the various countries and in the region and information about the genealogies of parties where country histories are particularly complex. A general index and internal cross-references make the data about the parties easily accessible to the political scientists, historians, and Middle Eastern students, teachers, and professionals for whom the survey is designed.
Show less