Suchergebnisse

Leaders of political parties often have to choose between conflicting objectives, such as influence on policy, control of the government, and support among the voters. This book examines the behaviour 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 behaviour 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. In their conclusions, the editors discuss how such leadership decisions can be understood and examine the causes of different choices among party leaders

Many scholars have argued that political values in advanced democracies have significantly changed & specifically that the right & left have realigned along new value dimensions. Herbert Kitschelt is one of the principal proponents of this view, arguing that political conflict in mature democracies is increasingly organized around a right-authoritarian versus left-libertarian dimension. We reconsider this argument both theoretically & empirically. Our replication of Kitschelt's analysis raises doubts about construct validity, as well as about his empirical results. Second, our analysis of survey data from the Euro-Barometer & World Values Surveys leads us to question the claim that the political left is libertarian & the right authoritarian. Third, we find no significant evidence that conservative partisans less enthusiastically embrace the most common forms of democratic participation than do those on the left. Finally, our analysis of the contents of their respective programs does not demonstrate that leftist parties are more libertarian than those on the right or that, in recent decades, the former have particularly trended in a libertarian direction. 9 Tables, 3 Appendixes, 23 References. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Ltd., copyright 2004.]

Examines parliamentarism in Norway, describing political parties, the electoral system & delegation process, & the comparatively modest external constraints on this fairly unadulterated parliamentary democracy. Four key areas of domestic constraint are subnational governments, direct democracy, judicial review, & corporatism, each of which is described. The more significant external constraints derive from Norway's European Economic Area (EEA) membership & the consequences of European integration. The conclusion stresses that Norway, while not an exemplary parliamentary system, accords reasonably closely with the ideal-type chain of delegation mainly because of a strong party government & a robust dependence on ex ante controls over agents. However, both of these traits have been undermined by recent shifts in the Norwegian polity. 1 Table, 58 References. K. Coddon

An important agenda power in parliamentary democracies is the discretion over the dissolution of parliament. We argue that variation in constitutional rules and the political environment will systematically affect the frequency of early elections. We hypothesize that dissolution will be more frequent under single-party governments, when the head of state plays an insignificant role, when neither parliament nor the cabinet can inhibit dissolution, when minority governments are in power, when the head of state can dissolve unilaterally, and later in the constitutional term. Using standard logistic and Cox-proportional hazard techniques, we test these expectations in a pooled time-series setting against observations of most OECD parliamentary democracies for the years 1960-1995. We find that parliamentary dissolutions are more frequent earlier in the constitutional term, under minority governments, when the head of state plays an insignificant role, and when the parliament or the cabinet is not involved. (American Political Science Review / FUB)

Electoral manifestos are a key instrument of democratic political parties in their quest for popular support. Here, the contents of postwar Norwegian party manifestos are examined via factorial analysis, building on the saliency theory of party competition. Of the four factors uncovered, two can be identified with the left-right dimension, one with the moral-religious axis, & one with material center-periphery conflicts. A high degree of interparty consensus & convergence is evident, particularly prior to 1970. The results are generally consistent with previous research on Norwegian mass & party politics. 5 Tables, 4 Figures, 2 Appendixes, 38 References. Modified HA

Analyse der Entwicklung der Norwegischen Konservativen Partei, die sich seit 1975 durch überdurchschnittliches Wachstum ausgezeichnet, den Wandel vom bisher durch die Sozialisten dominierten Parteiensystem zum Zwei-Parteiensystem eingeleitet, bei den Wahlen zum Storting von 1985 allerdings einen Rückschlag erlitten hat. Sozio-ökonomische Wandlungsprozesse in der norwegischen Gesellschaft, organisatorische Entwicklungen in der Partei, Beziehungen zu anderen Parteien und Trends der norwegischen Politik werden in ihren Auswirkungen auf die Konservative Partei untersucht. Die Rückschläge fallen in die Zeit konservativer Regierungsverantwortung und sind kaum sozial bestimmt. (AuD-Hng)