Ware, Alan (1996), Political Parties and Party Systems

Ware, Alan (1996), Political Parties and Party Systems, Oxford: OUP – Part I (Good introductory text)
Available New College P 2.1 WAR

Notes. (more)

Schumpeter, Joseph (1985) ‘Two Concepts of Democracy’

Schumpeter, Joseph (1985) ‘Two Concepts of Democracy’ in Anthony Quinton ed, Political Philosophy
Available New College - P 1.4 QUI

Notes. (more)

Downs, Anthony (1957), An Economic Theory of Democracy

Downs, Anthony (1957), An Economic Theory of Democracy.
Available New College - P 1.4 DOW

Notes. (more)

Dalton, Russell (2006), Citizen Politics: Public Opinion and Political Parties

Dalton, Russell (2006), Citizen Politics: Public Opinion and Political Parties
Available - New College P 2.1 DAL

Notes. (more)

MT09 - Week 7 - Voting and Elections

Elections and party competition are essential to a functioning democracy because
they enable public preferences to be translated into public policy. But who actually
sets the politicalagenda, how do parties mobilise support, and what determines how
an individual votes? This session aims to explore party competition and the
relationship between parties and voters in developed democracies.

Discussion topics:
(a) How do you win an election? Has the rise of televisions/the internet changed everything? How important are party structures? Who sets the political agenda - party elites or the electorate?
(b) Do we best understand how people vote by adopting the lens of ideology, class voting, economic voting, or post-materialist voting? How much variation exists across nations, and what research strategies can we use to model this?

Readings:
(a) Parties and Political Competition
· Dalton, Russell (2006), Citizen Politics: Public Opinion and Political Parties
· Downs, Anthony (1957), An Economic Theory of Democracy OR Dunleavy, Patrick (1986) Democracy, Bureaucracy and Public Choice, Chs 4 & 5, and compare with Schumpeter, Joseph (1985) ‘Two Concepts of Democracy’ in Anthony Quinton ed, Political Philosophy
· *Kirchheimer, Otto (1966), ‘The Transformation of the Western European Party Systems’, in
Joseph LaPalombara and Myron Weiner, Political Parties and Political Development
· Lipset, Seymour M and Rokkan, Stein (1967) ‘Cleavage Structures, Party Systems and Voter Alignments: An Introduction’, in S.M. Lipset and S. Rokkan eds Party Systems and Voter Alignments: Cross-National Perspectives
· Mair, Peter (2002), ‘Comparing Party Systems’, in Lawrence LeDuc et al. (eds.), Comparing
Democracies 2: New Challenges in the Study of Elections and Voting
· Nichter, Simeon (2008) ‘Vote Buying or Turnout Buying? Machine Politics and the Secret Ballot’, American Political Science Review, 102, 1
· Party Politics 9, no. 5 (2003) – special issue on Party Organization and Campaigning at the Grass Roots
· Ware, Alan (1996), Political Parties and Party Systems, Oxford: OUP – Part I (Good introductory text)

(b) Voters and vote choice
· Clarke, Harold D., David Sanders, Marianne C. Stewart, et al (2004), Political Choice in Britain
· Evans, Geoffrey, ed (1999), The End of Class Politics? Class Voting in Comparative Context, esp Intro and Conc (pay attention to the definition of class at pp.8-11 and think carefully about it)
· Hinich, M. J. and M. C. Munger (1994), Ideology and the theory of political choice
· Hout, M, C. Brooks & J. Manza (1999), ‘The Democratic Class Struggle in the United States’
American Sociological Review 60
· Inglehart, Ronald and J-R Rabier (1986), ‘Political Realignment in Advanced Industrial Society:
From Class- Based Politics to Quality-of-Life Politics’ Government and Opposition 21
· Thomassen, J. ed. (2006), The European Voter.

Students might also want to consider one of the following ‘eye-witness’ accounts:
· Campbell, Alastair (2007) The Blair Years
· McGinness, Joe (1988), The Selling of the President
· Thomas, Evan (2009), "A Long Time Coming": The Inspiring, Combative 2008 Campaign and the Historic Election of Barack Obama
· Thompson, Hunter S (2005), Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail
(more)