1st Edition

Political Parties in Western Democracies

By Leon D. Epstein Copyright 1979
    386 Pages
    by Routledge

    386 Pages
    by Routledge

    Presents a brilliant, persuasive case that American political parties, so often dismissed as immature or ineffective compared with their European counterparts, are in fact old and durable political organizations, seriving well the needs of a pluralistic society.

    What chiefly distinguishes this work is the inclusion of considerable material on American partics in a comparative context to the analysis of British, Scandinavian, European, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand political parties.

    Preface to the Transaction Edition, Preface, 1. Introduction, 2. Developmental Circumstances, 3. The Nature of Competition, 4. Structuring The Vote, 5. Organization, 6. The Socialist Working-Class Party, 7. Leadership Recruitment by Class, 8. Candidate Selection, 9. Counter-Organizational Tendencies, 10. The Programmatic Function, 11. Program, Policy and Organized Membership, 12. The Governing Function, 13: Conclusion, Postscript to the Transaction Edition, Index

    Biography

    Leon D. Epstein is John Bascom Professor of Political Science, University of Wisconsin. Dr. Epstein is president of the American Political Science Association and author of Governing the University: The Campus and the Public Interest, British Politics in the Suez Crisis and Britain - Uneasy Ally.