Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T07:00:19.734Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Representation and participation in the changing world of party politics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 July 2009

Peter Mair
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The 20th-century has been the century of mass politics, and the mass parties that emerged at the beginning of this century became deeply rooted within wider society. The passing of this golden age of the party has now been marked by two distinct processes of change. On the one hand, parties have become more distant from society and more closely linked to government and the state. On the other hand, there has been a decline in the political identities of the parties, such that voters now find it increasingly difficult to distinguish between them. These changes, and the related transformation of politics into administration, have led to a growth in popular indifference to parties and to politics in general, as well as to a declining sense of engagement. Should this trend continue, it is mass spectacle rather than mass involvement that is likely to characterize the future of mass politics.

Type
Focus: The Future of Democracy in the New Millennium: Can Parties Respond to the Challenge?
Information
European Review , Volume 6 , Issue 2 , May 1998 , pp. 161 - 174
Copyright
Copyright © Academia Europaea 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Rose, R. & Mossawir, H. (1967) voting and elections: a functional analysis. Political Studies, 15, 173–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2.Lipset, S. M. & Rokkan, S. (1967) cleavage structures, party systems and voter alignments: an introduction. In Lipset, S. M. & Rokkan, S. (eds), Party Systems and Voter Alignments (New York; The Free Press) pp. 1–64.Google Scholar
3.Neumann, S. (1956) towards a comparative study of political parties. In Neumann, S. (ed), Modern Political Parties, (Chicago: Chicago University Press) pp. 395–421.Google Scholar
4.Roth, G. (1963) The Social Democrats in Imperial Germany: A Study in Working-Class Isolation and National Integration (Totawa, New Jersey: The Bedminster Press).Google Scholar
5.Kirchheimer, O. (1966) The transformation of west European party systems. In LaPalombara, J. & Weiner, M. (eds), Political Parties and Political Development, (Princeton; Princeton University Press) pp. 177–200.Google Scholar
6.Lawson, K. & Merkl, P. (eds) (1988) When Parties Fail: Emerging Alternative Organizations, (Princeton: Princeton University Press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7.Leadbetter, C. (1997) Civic Spirit, (London: Demos).Google Scholar
8.Katz, R. S. & Mair, P. (1995) changing models of party organization and party democracy: the emergence of the cartel party. Party Politics 1, 5–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9.Mair, P. (1997) Party System Change: Approaches and Interpretations, (Oxford; Clarendon Press).Google Scholar
10.Dahl, R. A. (ed) (1966) Political Oppositions in Western Democracies (New Haven: Yale University Press).Google Scholar
11.Rose, R. (1990) inheritance before choice in public policy. Journal of Theoretical Politics, 2, 263–291.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
12.Lijphart, A. (1968) typologies of democratic systems. Comparative Political Studies 1, 35–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13.Poguntke, T. & Scarrow, S. E. (eds) (1996) The politics of anti-party sentiment. Special issue of the European Journal of Political Research, 29.Google Scholar
14.Andeweg, R. B. (1996) elite-mass linkages in Europe: legitimacy crisis or party crisis? In Hayward, J. (ed), Elitism, Populism and European Politics, (Oxford: Clarendon Press) pp. 143–163.Google Scholar
15.Poguntke, T. (1996) anti-party sentiment – conceptual thoughts and empirical evidence: explorations into a minefield. European Journal of Political Research, 29, 319–344.Google Scholar
16.Dahl, R. A. (1966) Epilogue. In Political Oppositions in Western Democracies (New Haven: Yale University Press) pp. 387–401.Google Scholar
17.Statera, G. (1986) La Politica Spettacolo (Milan; Mondadori).Google Scholar