Political Parties in Competition. Left, Right and Beyond.

Catalog description

Why is electoral participation organized around parties and not individual candidates? What do parties offer and deliver to voters? How did parties and party systems develop in the United States and Europe in the 19th century and what consequences did this have for the rules of the competitive game (electoral laws)? How have American and European parties changed their political appeals in the twentieth century, and then lately into the twenty-first century? Why have some party systems—like the American—sharply polarized, while others—typically in Europe—have fragmented into a multiplicity of political parties?