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This case study discusses how and why manifestos can be useful in political science research. Manifesto analyses have a long history in the discipline and shed light on important aspects of party competition, and the changing nature of political life. They also invite an appreciation of issues and policy areas parties prioritize. Manifestos can thus tell us a lot about partie? relationships and the positions they take up. That said, existing datasets are not always enough. Consequently, researchers may have to design novel indicators and do their own coding. I discuss different ways this can be done with reference to my own research. The case study then highlights important data sources in the field and outlines key issues to consider when developing measurement scales and indicators for on??s own research.

This book explores the changing nature of party competition in four West European countries. It pays special attention to how different ideological positions give rise to contradictory cues when parties engage with atypical election issues like the EU and immigration.

"Why are the EU and immigration such complicated questions for political parties to compete on? And what challenges do they present to parties' electoral strategies? By systematically comparing the political mainstream in four West European countries -- Belgium, Britain, the Netherlands and Sweden -- this study explores the changing nature of party competition on two highly salient issues in contemporary politics. Based on a new way of coding party manifestos, and a large set of interview data, the author argues that the ideological ambiguity presented by the two issues can crystalize pre-existing tensions within parties. Furthermore, this study argues that an inability to negotiate these tensions explains why some parties are more likely than others to emphasise their successful track record of delivery and competent handling of EU and immigration matters, than they are to offer the electorate a choice between different societal outcomes"--Provided by publisher.

Comparing differences in migrant political participation, the author discusses the influence that institutions have on opportunities and constraints for migrants' political engagement. This book adopts a multi-country comparative approach, highlighting three areas where institutions influence the scope for migrant actors

The literature on party competition suggests that traditional conflict lines have either become obsolete or been replaced by new, less stable, ones. This development points to how political conflict has changed but also to how certain policy positions can be problematic to explain when these are linked to parties' location on "Old" and "New" conflict dimensions. A particularly difficult issue has been party position(s) on immigration. Solely focusing on parties' spatial location -- on either conflict dimension -- is insufficient for understanding the position that parties adopt. The article argues that a more fruitful approach is to simultaneously consider the degree of ownership -- the strategic advantage -- that parties have on particular conflict dimensions and parties' spatial location therein. Comparing parties in Britain and Sweden, the article explores the extent to which this framework explains party positioning in two institutionally different contexts. Adapted from the source document.

Im Vergleich zu früheren nationalen wie europäischen Wahlen in Großbritannien überraschten die Europawahlen von 2004 vor allen Dingen in zweierlei Hinsicht: Erstens war die Wahlbeteiligung wesentlich höher als bei den vorangegangenen des Jahres 1999. Zweitens konnte die United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) einen unerwarteten Wahlerfolg verbuchen, während die Konservativen und die Labour-Partei relativ hohe Wahlverluste hinnehmen mussten. Der vorliegende Beitrag fragt nach Gründen für diese Besonderheiten und legt dabei besonderes Augenmerk auf die Rolle des Wahlkampfes sowie der von den konkurrierenden Parteien jeweils favorisierten Strategien. Dabei wird von der Annahme ausgegangen, dass die beiden Großparteien (Conservative und Labour Party) ihr eigentliches Wahlkampfpotenzial nur unzureichend ausschöpften und kein besonderes Interesse am Wahlkampf zeigten, da sie den Wahlen zum Europäischen Parlament, entsprechend der "Second-Order Election"-These, nur eine untergeordnete Bedeutung zumaßen. Hauptfokus des Wahlkampfes war die britische EU-Mitgliedschaft. Ihre bestenfalls als ambivalent zu bezeichnende Einstellungen zur Europäischen Union (EU) führten Labour und Conservatives in eine Sackgasse, wovon letztlich vor allem die UKIP profitierte. Dies und eine starke mediale Präsenz mündeten, wie die Ausführungen zeigen, in einem vorher nicht für möglich gehaltenen Wahlerfolg der UKIP. (ICA2)