The Strain of Representation assesses and explains the extent to which political parties
across Europe as a whole have succeeded in representing diverse voters. The authors note …

Political Choice Matters investigates the extent to which class and religion influence party
choice in contemporary democracies. Rather than the commonly-assumed process in which …

In a cleavage perspective, political conflicts and the rise and decline of political parties are
shaped by structural political potentials that arise from the gradual evolution of social …

The issue of European integration is turning out to be a force that polarises both public
opinion and political elites across Europe. This chapter reviews the literature on the …

Does ideological polarization undermine or strengthen people's principled support for
democracy? In this study, we suggest that different manifestations of ideological polarization …

Studies that explain the class voting have often focused on “bottom-up” social factors, but
paid little attention to 'top-down'political factors. We argue that party positions on left–right …

This major new text by two leading authorities in the field provides a state-of-the-art
assessment of what we know about voting behaviour and the character, consequences and …

This article aims to understand the determinants of party-system polarization by moving
beyond the (almost exclusive) emphasis placed in the literature on the role of the electoral …

Fighting corruption is a vital aspect of good governance. When assessing government
performance voters should thus withdraw electoral support from government parties that turn …

Given the significance of the left‐right dimension as one of the most frequently employed
cap** term of ideological thought in most western democracies, the question arises as to …