Policy, Office, or Votes?: How Political Parties in Western Europe Make Hard Decisions

Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics

by Wolfgang C. Müller (Editor), Kaare Strøm (Editor)

Leaders of political parties often have to choose among conflicting objectives, such as influence on policy, control of the government, and support among the voters. This book examines the behavior of political parties in situations where they experience conflict between two or more important objectives. The volume contains a theoretical introduction and case studies of party leaders in Germany, Italy, France and Spain as well as six smaller European democracies. Each case focuses on the behavior of one of several parties in situations of goal conflict, such as the "historic compromise" in Italy, the 1982 Wende in West Germany, the making of the new Swedish constitution in the 1970s, and the termination of the Austrian "black-red" grand coalition.

Genres: Political Science

336 pages, Hardcover

First published August 28, 1999

Reviews

[Henry Schlechta · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book deals with the trade-offs political parties face between policy, office and votes, which the authors describe as their three main goals. The book consists of a series of case studies focusing on European political parties. While the case studies are certainly interesting, they lack the sort of integration that would allow the book to shed light on the topic, and insufficient attention is given to the very important general theories mentioned in the first and last chapters.