1st Edition
Regionalist Parties in Western Europe Dimensions of Success
Regionalist parties matter. Over the past 40 years, they have played an ever-larger role in West European democracies. Because of their relevance and temporal persistence, their achievements have increasingly become visible not only in electoral arena, but also as regards holding office and policy-making. Enhancing our understanding of these different dimensions of success, this book analyses various types of regionalist party success. Beyond conventional perspectives, the focus of this book is also on how the dimensions of success are related to each other, and in particular to what extent electoral and office success – jointly or alternatively – contribute to policy success. Adopting a common theoretical framework and combining the in-depth knowledge of country experts, each chapter explores the evolution and impact of regionalist parties in regional or federal states, that is the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, and Switzerland. This allows for a comprehensive and comparative analysis of one of the main political challenges within West-European democracies.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Explaining the policy success of regionalist parties in Western Europe
Oscar Mazzoleni & Sean Mueller
Chapter 2: The Scottish National Party: Nationalism for the Many
Lynn Bennie
Chapter 3: The Christlich-Soziale Union: More Than Only One Double Role
Claudius Wagemann
Chapter 4: Moderate Regionalist Parties in Spain: Convergència i Unió and Partido Nacionalista Vasco
Oscar Barberà & Astrid Barrio
Chapter 5: Regionalist Parties in Belgium (N-VA, FDF): A Renewed Success?
Emilie van Haute
Chapter 6: The Südtiroler Volkspartei: Success through conflict, failure through consensus
Günther Pallaver
Chapter 7: The Northern League
Roberto Biorcio
Chapter 8: A Regionalist League in Southern Switzerland
Oscar Mazzoleni
Chapter 9: Conclusion
Oscar Mazzoleni, Sean Mueller and Emilie van Haute
Biography
Dr. Oscar Mazzoleni is professor at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, and Director of the Research Observatory for Regional Politics.
Dr. Sean Mueller is Lecturer at the University of Berne, Switzerland, and editorial assistant of the Swiss Political Science Review.