Ideology, Strategy and Party Change Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables
- List of Figures
- Preface
- 1 The influence of election programmes: Britain and Canada 1945–1979.
- 2 The internal analysis of election programmes.
- 3 Britain, Australia, New Zealand and the United States 1946–1981, an initial comparative analysis.
- 4 Canada 1945–1980: party platforms and campaign strategies.
- 5 Sri Lanka 1947–1977: elite programmes and mass politics.
- 6 Israel 1949–1981.
- 7 Ireland 1948–1981: issues, parties, strategies.
- 8 Northern Ireland 1921–1973: party manifestos and platforms.
- 9 Sweden and Denmark 1945–1982: election programmes in the Scandinavian setting.
- 10 The Netherlands 1946–1981.
- 11 Belgium 1946–1981.
- 12 Luxembourg 1945–1982: dimensions and strategies.
- 13 Austria 1945–1978.
- 14 Electoral programmes in West Germany 1949–1980: explorations in the nature of political controversy.
- 15 France 1958–1981: the strategy of joint government platforms.
- 16 Italy 1946–1979: ideological distances and party movements.
- 17 Japan 1960–1980: party programmes in elections.
- 18 Do parties differ, and how? Comparative discriminant and factor analyses.
- Appendices
- General bibliography
- Index
1 - The influence of election programmes: Britain and Canada 1945–1979.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 October 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables
- List of Figures
- Preface
- 1 The influence of election programmes: Britain and Canada 1945–1979.
- 2 The internal analysis of election programmes.
- 3 Britain, Australia, New Zealand and the United States 1946–1981, an initial comparative analysis.
- 4 Canada 1945–1980: party platforms and campaign strategies.
- 5 Sri Lanka 1947–1977: elite programmes and mass politics.
- 6 Israel 1949–1981.
- 7 Ireland 1948–1981: issues, parties, strategies.
- 8 Northern Ireland 1921–1973: party manifestos and platforms.
- 9 Sweden and Denmark 1945–1982: election programmes in the Scandinavian setting.
- 10 The Netherlands 1946–1981.
- 11 Belgium 1946–1981.
- 12 Luxembourg 1945–1982: dimensions and strategies.
- 13 Austria 1945–1978.
- 14 Electoral programmes in West Germany 1949–1980: explorations in the nature of political controversy.
- 15 France 1958–1981: the strategy of joint government platforms.
- 16 Italy 1946–1979: ideological distances and party movements.
- 17 Japan 1960–1980: party programmes in elections.
- 18 Do parties differ, and how? Comparative discriminant and factor analyses.
- Appendices
- General bibliography
- Index
Summary
PURPOSES OF THE ANALYSIS
Most of this book is concerned with the ‘internal’ analysis of election programmes – the examination, that is, of the concerns and emphases which parties write into their text and which distinguish them from other parties. In Chapter 2 we discuss the background and design of this type of research; Chapters 3–17 apply it to individual countries; and Chapter 18 extends it in a truly comparative, cross-national direction.
The first question people ask in this regard is not, however, what do election programmes tell you about parties, but how far do they get implemented in government? It is the essence of theories of representative democracy that parties gain power on the basis of election pledges which they then have a ‘mandate’ to put into effect (Kavanagh, 1980). If they do not do this, the usual justifications of the system of government would not apply; electors are being defrauded; the system is not functioning as a sensitive way of translating popular preferences into action.
A full investigation of the relationship between programmatic commitments and government reactions is possible only on the basis of an extended examination of what the commitments are and how they are expressed. The bulk of our book describes this preliminary, but essential, investigation. On its basis we are currently examining relationships with (single-party) government policy (Railings, Budge and Hearl (eds.), 1987) and with coalition government programmes (Laver, Budge and Hearl (eds.), 1987).
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Ideology, Strategy and Party ChangeSpatial Analyses of Post-War Election Programmes in 19 Democracies, pp. 1 - 14Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1987
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