Policy Horizons and Parliamentary Government

Extract

Policy Horizons and Parliamentary Government, Paul V. Warwick, New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006, pp. x, 256.

In Autumn 1978, the governing Swedish Centre Party came into conflict with its two coalition partners over the use of nuclear reactors for electric power and ultimately instigated the fall of the coalition government by proposing a referendum on the issue. The party's behaviour in this episode makes little sense when viewed from a policy-seeking or office-seeking perspective. By leaving the governing coalition, the party lost influence over government policy, lost office benefits and even lost votes in ensuing elections. We are consequently left to wonder what motivated the party leadership to embark on a seemingly self-destructive course of action.