The seminal text for understanding European coalition politics

American democracy is in deep crisis. But what do we do about it? That depends on how we understand the current threat.In Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop, Lee Drutman argues that we now have, for the first time in American history, a genuine two-party system, with two fully-sorted, truly national parties, divided over the character of the nation. And it's a disaster. It's a party system fundamentally at odds withour anti-majoritarian, compromise-oriented governing institutions. It threatens the very foundations of fairness and shared values on which our democracy depends.Deftly weaving together history, democratic theory, and cutting-edge political science research, Drutman tells the story of how American politics became so toxic and why the country is now trapped in a doom loop of escalating two-party warfare from which there is only one escape: increase the numberof parties through electoral reform. As he shows, American politics was once stable because the two parties held within them multiple factions, which made it possible to assemble flexible majorities and kept the climate of political combat from overheating. But as conservative Southern Democrats andliberal Northeastern Republicans disappeared, partisan conflict flattened and pulled apart. Once the parties became fully nationalized - a long-germinating process that culminated in 2010 - toxic partisanship took over completely. With the two parties divided over competing visions of nationalidentity, Democrats and Republicans no longer see each other as opponents, but as enemies. And the more the conflict escalates, the shakier our democracy feels.Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop makes a compelling case for large scale electoral reform - importantly, reform not requiring a constitutional amendment - that would give America more parties, making American democracy more representative, more responsive, and ultimately more stable.

This book adapts a formal model of elections and legislative politics to study party politics in Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Britain, and the United States. The approach uses the idea of valence, that is, the party leader's non-policy electoral popularity, and employs survey data to model these elections. The analysis explains why small parties in Israel and Italy keep to the electoral periphery. In the Netherlands, Britain, and the US, the electoral model is extended to include the behavior of activists. In the case of Britain, it is shown that there will be contests between activists for the two main parties over who controls policy. For the recent 2005 election, it is argued that the losses of the Labour party were due to Blair's falling valence. For the US, the model gives an account of the rotation of the locations of the two major parties over the last century.

The politics of coalition is inherent in the political process of most European countries. Coalition may be analyzed either theoretically or empirically; this study reconciles both approaches. Providing insight into contemporary coalition theory and placing it in the context of coalition politics, this work examines five basic themes: the identity and motivation of those involved in coalition politics; the eventual membership of coalitions; durability; payoffs; and the impact of constitutional, behavioral, and historical constraints on the process of coalition bargaining.

This book offers the first conceptually rigorous analysis of the political and institutional underpinnings of Brazil's recent rise. Using Brazil as a case study in multiparty presidentialism, the authors argue that Brazil's success stems from the combination of a constitutionally strong president and a robust system of checks and balances.

In the wake of Election 2000 and the Ralph Nader factor, this collection of original essays by leading political scientists examines the possibilities for and performance of minor parties in the American political system. Looking at the rise and fall of the Reform Party and the seeming upsurge in Green Party prospects, the authors present evidence and opinion about the viability of a multiparty system in the United States. New York party politics and Congressional and state legislative elections add depth to our understanding of multiparty politics in action. A unique public opinion survey shows surprising variation in citizen's attitudes toward minor parties and multiparty politics nationwide. Will minor parties flourish or flounder in the 2004 election season? This volume offers a variety of views that every voter should consider. Visit our website for sample chapters!

Susanne Michalik analyzes why authoritarian regimes allow for multiparty elections and how they affect political outcomes. Even though their introduction rarely leads to a change in power, such elections should not be regarded as mere window-dressing. She argues that competitive elections are installed to deal with a split among the incumbent elite and to facilitate the formation of a new ruling coalition. In a cross-national study the author finds that elections matter and the ruling party does more than just manipulate election results in order to be reelected. Incumbents provide a mix of public goods and targeted public goods depending on the level of electoral competition they are experiencing. The outcome of authoritarian multiparty elections in the form of the legislature’s party composition also has an effect on the regime’s international relations in the form of foreign aid allocation.

What determines the number of political parties in a democracy? Electoral rules certainly influence the incentives to create and maintain parties. However, a society's political culture can maintain parties despite electoral rules that give them poor prospects of success. Thus, comparing the number of parties and differences in electoral rules across countries cannot clearly test the effect of the electoral rules. A better test would examine a society with a fairly continuous political culture, but a change in electoral rules. Postwar France is such a society. While the basic social order has not changed, there was a drastic change in the electoral system in 1958, which theory implies would reduce the number of parties. Thus we can test the hypothesis that the number of parties fell with the change in electoral system. We can also calculate an " equivalent number of parties· to see how closely France approached a two - party system under the new regime. The first section describes the electoral rules under the Fourth and Fifth Republics. The second section develops a model that indicates how the change in electoral rules should have affected the incentives for multiple parties. The third section tests the hypothesis that the number of parties fell from the Fourth to the Fifth Republic. 1. Electoral Rules In the French Fourth Republic (1945 - 1958) political parties existed largely to serve the direct interests of their members.

Why have seemingly similar African countries developed very different forms of democratic party systems? Despite virtually ubiquitous conditions that are assumed to be challenging to democracy - low levels of economic development, high ethnic heterogeneity, and weak state capacity - nearly two dozen African countries have maintained democratic competition since the early 1990s. Yet the forms of party system competition vary greatly: from highly stable, nationally organized, well-institutionalized party systems to incredibly volatile, particularistic parties in systems with low institutionalization. To explain their divergent development, Rachel Beatty Riedl points to earlier authoritarian strategies to consolidate support and maintain power. The initial stages of democratic opening provide an opportunity for authoritarian incumbents to attempt to shape the rules of the new multiparty system in their own interests, but their power to do so depends on the extent of local support built up over time.