Policy, Office, or Votes?

• Figures; Tables; Contributors; 1. Political parties and hard choices Kaare Strøm and Wolfgang C. Müller; 2. Office, votes and then policy: hard choices for political parties in the Republic of Ireland, 1981–1992 Michael Marsh and Paul Mitchell; 3. Party behaviour and the formation of minority coalition governments: Danish experiences from the 1970s and 1980s Jørgen Elklit; 4. From policy-seeking to office-seeking: the metamorphosis of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party Donald Share; 5. Changing strategies: the dilemma of the Dutch Labour Party Ron Hillebrand and Galen A. Irwin; 6. Party behaviour in a polarized system: the Italian Communist Party and the historic compromise Roberto D'Alimonte; 7. Decision for opposition: the Austrian Socialist Party's abandonment of government participation in 1966 Wolfgang C. Müller; 8. Leadership accountability and bargaining failure in Norway: the Presthus debacle Kaare Strøm; 9. Winner takes all: the FDP in 1982–1983: maximizing votes, office and policy? Thomas Poguntke; 10. Trade-offs in Swedish constitutional design: the monarchy under challenge Torbjörn Bergman; 11. Parliamentary rules and party behaviour during minority government in France John D. Huber; 12. Conclusions: party behaviour and representative democracy Wolfgang C. Müller and Kaare Strøm; Index.

"...This book demonstrates that the notions of parties as seekers of office,votes,or policy can enhance understanding of these democratic organizations. This volume is highly recomended to enrich collections on comparative politics."