Political Parties and Electoral Change

Additional Book Details

How have Europe′s mainstream political parties responded to the long-term decline in voter loyalties?</p>
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<p>What are the consequences of this change in the electoral markets in which parties now operate?</p>
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<p>Popular disengagement, disaffection, and withdrawal on the one hand, and increasing popular support for protest parties on the other, have become the hallmarks of modern European politics. </p>
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<p>This book provides an excellent account of how political parties in Western Europe are perceiving and are responding to these contemporary challenges of electoral dealignment.</p>
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<p>Each chapter employs a common format to present and compare the changing strategies of established parties and party systems in Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, and Ireland.</p>
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<p>The result is an invaluable portrait of the changing electoral environment and how parties are interacting with each another and voters today. </p>
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<p>Political Parties and Electoral Change is essential reading for anybody seeking a deeper understanding of contemporary electoral politics and of the challenges facing west European party systems.</p>
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<p>Peter Mair is Professor of Comparative Politics at Leiden University.</p>
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<p>Wolfgang C. M ller is Professor of Political Science at the University of Mannheim and previously taught at the University of Vienna. </p>
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<p>Fritz Plasser is Professor of Political Science at the University of Innsbruck.