Political parties are central to democratic life, yet there is no standard definition to describe them or the role they occupy. "Voter-centered" theoretical approaches suggest that parties are the mere recipients of voter interests and loyalties. "Party-centered" approaches, by contrast, envision parties that polarize, democratize, or dominate society. In addition to offering isolated and competing notions of democratic politics, such approaches are also silent on the role of the state and are unable to account for organizations like Hamas, Hezbollah, and the African National Congress, which exhibit characteristics of parties, states, and social movements simultaneously. In this timely book, Cedric de Leon examines the ways in which social scientists and other observers have imagined the relationship between parties and society. He introduces and critiques the full range of approaches, using enlivening comparative examples from across the globe. Cutting through a vast body of research, de Leon offers a succinct and lively analysis that outlines the key thinking in the field, placing it in historical and contemporary context. The resulting book will appeal to students of sociology, political science, social psychology, and related fields.

According to received wisdom parties have played a mainly destructive role in French political development. Of questionable legitimacy, pursuing narrow sectarian goals, often corruptly, they have brought about division, weakness and the collapse of regimes. A proper reading of history suggests differently. By combining historical research and contemporary political science theory about party, the author shows that for over a century party has irrigated French democracy in often invisible ways, brokering working compromises between groups divided strongly along social, political and cultural lines. The key to this success is the party system, which allowed for a high degree of collusion and cooptation between political elites, rhetoric notwithstanding. This hidden logic has persisted to this day despite the advent of presidentialism and remains the key to the continuing prosperity of French democracy.

"This volume is a valuable source of information that also represents a genuinely collaborative approach to understanding Soviet history. The collection is so rich that every scholar and teacher of Soviet history will want to consult it. Highly recommended." —Choice "Documentation of this well-edited volume is exhaustive. It can be highly recommended for undergraduate and graduate students and specialists." —History "This is a surprisingly readable, well-structured book that is an absolute necessity for a college library as well as a useful addition to a scholar's personal library." —Perspectives on Political Science " . . . essential reading . . . abundant empirical research and fresh interpretations." —The Russian Review To what extent were the social responses and political choices of the Civil War years the product of social and economic circumstances and to what extent were they the result of the independent exercise of conscious political will? This landmark volume presents the leading edge of current scholarship on the social history of the Russian Civil War.

The Republic of Cyprus’ social and political culture is deeply partitocratic, with a close relationship between state apparatus and the parties that influence the government’s decisions. However, little is known about the social and political implications of the above traits, and even less about how parties influence and are influenced by society at large. The concept of linkage, which refers to the linking of citizens with government and the political process, is vital in the study of the electoral or ideological considerations of parties. Parties’ decisions regarding their organization and image correlates with the effort made to keep up with public opinion. Party-Society Relations in the Republic of Cyprus adds a new dimension to the study of linkage, considering the complexity of civil society as well as exploring the dynamics of political parties. Bringing together specialists from a range of disciplines, it examines the wider effects of partitocracy on democracy and uses it as a frame for exploring the construction, maintenance or deformation of links between social groups and parties. Through its analysis of both the partisan and societal aspects of party-social relations, it illuminates larger questions concerning the strategic complexity involved when politics and society interact. Approaching the Republic of Cyprus as a representative case study of partitocratic political culture, this book is a key resource for those interested in party and civil society politics, as well as Cypriot, Mediterranean and South-East European politics.

Do political parties merely represent divisions in society? Until now, scholars and other observers have generally agreed that they do. But Building Blocs argues the reverse: that some political parties in fact shape divisions as they struggle to remake the social order. Drawing on the contributors' expertise in Indonesia, India, the United States, Canada, Egypt, and Turkey, this volume demonstrates further that the success and failure of parties to politicize social differences has dramatic consequences for democratic change, economic development, and other large-scale transformations. This politicization of divisions, or "political articulation," is neither the product of a single charismatic leader nor the machinations of state power, but is instead a constant call and response between parties and would-be constituents. When articulation becomes inconsistent, as it has in Indonesia, partisan calls grow faint and the resulting vacuum creates the possibility for other forms of political expression. However, when political parties exercise their power of interpellation efficiently, they are able to silence certain interests such as those of secular constituents in Turkey. Building Blocs exposes political parties as the most influential agencies that structure social cleavages and invites further critical investigation of the related consequences.

A study of the consequences of partisan communication on the stability of unified government of the United States.

In August 2009, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) won a crushing victory over the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), thus bringing to an end over fifty years of one-party dominance. Around the world, the victory of the DPJ was seen as a radical break with Japan's past. However, this dramatic political shift was not as sudden as it appeared, but rather the culmination of a series of changes first set in motion in the early 1990s. The Evolution of Japan's Party System analyses the transition by examining both party politics and public policy. Arguing that these political changes were evolutionary rather than revolutionary, the essays in this volume discuss how older parties such as the LDP and the Japan Socialist Party failed to adapt to the new policy environment of the 1990s. Taken as a whole, The Evolution of Japan's Party System provides a unique look at party politics in Japan, bringing them into a comparative conversation that usually focuses on Europe and North America.