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Introduction: The Challenges facing liberal democracy and Political Parties at the Beginning of the 21st Century

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 July 2009

Extract

Political parties are one of the most important inventions of the modern world. We may not regard them as we regard electricity, television, or aeroplanes, yet they are just as much as part of our life. If parties did not exist, what would elections be like? How would parliaments conduct their business? How would we choose politicians? In short, how would we organize politics? It might be felt that we can live without parties, indeed some countries do not have them so far, but all 'advanced' modern countries have them.

Type
Focus: The Future of Democracy in the New Millennium: Can Parties Respond to the Challenge?
Copyright
Copyright © Academia Europaea 1998

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References

1.The Federalist Papers (1787), Everyman Edition, Dent, London, 1911, in particular Letter X.Google Scholar
2.Ostrogorski, M. (1902) Democracy and the Organisation of Political Parties, 2 vols., (New York; Macmillan).Google Scholar
3.Michels, R. (1962) Political Parties (New York; Free Press).Google Scholar