Suchergebnisse

Political Parties, William Cross, The Canadian Democratic
Audit series; Vancouver, UBC Press, 2004, pp. 218.Political Parties is part of the Canadian Democratic
Audit series. The expressed aim of the series is to "examine
the way Canadian democracy functions" using three benchmarks,
"public participation, inclusiveness and responsiveness," with
the principle output being not so much a report card but the desire to
"encourage ongoing discussion of how best to fashion Canada's
democratic institutions and practices well into the new century"
(http://www.mta.ca/faculty/arts-letters/canadian_studies/cda/pdf/demaudit_overview_15aug.pdf).
Cross's short, readable volume achieves these objectives.

This article investigates the challenges that political parties face in referendums. While political parties are still key actors in a referendum campaign, a number of factors weaken their position. Ambiguous cueing, internal dissidence, electoral volatility and limited impact on citizens' prime information sources reduce the influence of political parties. Large, centrist political parties have the worst performance record in terms of getting their voters to follow the recommendation of the party, while smaller, ideologically strongly profiled parties are more successful in aligning their voters with party policy. At the individual level, we find that, in particular, efficacious voters are likely to disregard the recommendation of their preferred party, while politically disinterested voters are more likely to follow the party endorsement. The article concludes with a discussion of the contingent nature of party control over referendums.

This is a comprehensive study of the special legislation on political parties around the world. In a survey conducted in late 2003, 39 party laws (PLs) identified among the world's states were subjected to a systematic content analysis which confirmed the hypothesis that PLs regulate political parties differently depending on the democratic status of the respective countries. In non-democratic states, regimes tend to use PLs to restrict the freedom of their opponents, while in newly democratized states, democratic regimes use the law to counteract lingering anti-democratic tendencies. In some stable democracies, the PL is primarily a prerequisite for regulation of public party subsidies and political finance. The article concludes with some reflections on PLs in established democratic states.

Enthält: Party system of Ukraine before and after Maidan : changes, trends, public demand. - S. 2-67 ; Political parties in Ukraine : current state, development and environment. - S. 68-73 ; Political parties in Ukraine : expert opinions. - S. 74-92 ; Current state and prospects of development of party system in Ukraine : expert assessments. - S. 93-105 ; Political parties and party system of Ukraine at present : public opinion. - S. 106-144 ; Party system of Ukraine at present : challenges, problems, public expectations. - S. 145-163