Party and Society

Cedric de Leon is associate professor of sociology at Providence College.

• Introduction 1 Part I: Voter-Centered Approaches1. The Social Voter 192. The Partisan Voter 323. The Issue Voter 57Part II: Party-Centered Approaches4. The Oligarchical Party 755. The Functional Party 1036. The Exclusive Party 1247. Party, State, and Society 157Notes 167References 172Index 184

"This creative, well-organized, and well-written book is going to make important contributions to not only the analysis of parties but to the social sciences in general. Party & Society blends in-depth coverage of the field, criticism, and original argumentation. Students and experts fortunate enough to read this book will get a fuller sense of party politics than they ever had before."Cihan Tuðal, University of California, Berkeley "Party & Society is a map and a brief. It offers a much-needed guide to the plethora of classical and contemporary perspectives on political parties in both sociology and political science. But it also adds up to an important argument: if sociologically minded students of parties wish to present a robust alternative to 'voter-centered approaches' in accounting for the observable complexities of political life, they would do well to take seriously the idea that parties are by turns cause and consequence of states and societies. This book should be required reading for all political sociologists."Anthony S. Chen, Northwestern University