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Toward a Theory of Political Parties

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2011

Sigmund Neumann
Affiliation:
Wesleyan University
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Abstract

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Type
Review Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Trustees of Princeton University 1954

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References

1 See also the informative symposium, Political Parties and the Party System in Britain, edited by Sydney D. Bailey (New York, Frederick A. Praeger, Inc., 1952; published the same year in London by the Hansard Society, under the title, The British Party System). Written by recognized British authorities, it surveys the evolution of the party system and the history, philosophy, and principles of the individual parties. The added discussion of “some problems of the party system” underscores the necessarily inconclusive and preliminary nature of such an introductory volume.

2 In this connection one ought to consult the carefully executed monograph by Mabileau, Albert, Le Parti Liberal dans le Système Constitutionnel Britannique (Cahiers de la Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques, No. 47, Paris, Librairie Armand Colin, 1953)Google Scholar, a fine example of the newly awakened political science in contemporary France. This comprehensive case study analyzes the dissolution of a great political movement in its three stages—from governmental party (1906–1922), to parliamentary party (1922–1935), to a party of opinion (1935–1952), until paradoxically it has lost nearly all political influence and yet has had its principles adopted by the entire nation.

3 See McCallum, R. B. and Readman, A., The British General Election of 1945, Oxford, 1947Google Scholar; Nicholas, H. G., The British General Election of 1950, London, 1951Google Scholar; Butler, D. E., The British General Election of 1951, London, 1952Google Scholar; and the equally impressive monograph by Butler, D. E., The Electoral System in Britain, 1918–1951, Oxford, 1953Google Scholar, which, incidentally, gives valuable insights as to the possible effect the much-discussed proportional representation would have had if it had been introduced in Great Britain.

See also Morazé, C. and others, Etudes de Sociologie Electorale, Paris, 1947Google Scholar; Cadart, J., Régime Electoral et Régime Parlementaire en Grande-Bretagne, Paris, 1948Google Scholar; Siegfried, A., Géographie Electorale de l'Ardèche, Paris, 1949Google Scholar; Duverger, M., Goguel, F., and others, L'Influence des Systèmes Electoraux sur la Vie Politique, Paris, 1950Google Scholar; Latreille, A. and Siegfried, A., Les Forces Religieuses et la Vie Politique: Le Catholicisme et le Protestantisme, Paris, 1951Google Scholar; Dupeux, G. and Goguel, F., Sociologie Electorale: Esquisse d'un Bilan, Paris, 1951Google Scholar; Goguel, F., Géographie des Elections Françaises de 1870 à 1951, Paris, 1951.Google Scholar

See also Schriften des Instituts für Politische Wissenschaft: No. 1, Wahlkampf und Machtverschiebung: Geschichte und Analyse der Berliner Wahlen vom 3. Dezember 1950; No. 2, Faktoren der Machtbildung: Wissenschaftliche Studien zur Politik; and Rudolf Wildenmann, Partei und Fraktion.

4 Cf. the outstanding contribution of Fainsod, Merle, How Russia Is Ruled, Cambridge, Mass., 1953Google Scholar; and see also the latest thought-provoking study by Moore, Barrington Jr,, Terror and Progress—USSR, Cambridge, Mass., 1954.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

5 See also Gurian, Waldemar, ed., The Catholic Church in World Affairs, Notre Dame, Ind., 1954.Google Scholar

6 In this connection, special mention should be made of the excellent study, “Das Problem der 'Neuen Intelligenz' in der sowjetischen Besatzungszone. Ein Beitrag zur politischen Soziologie der kommunistischen Herrschaftsordnung,” by M. G. Lange, Ernst Richert, and Otto Stammer. It could indeed be regarded as the center piece of a fine collection of essays in the Festschrift, Veritas, Justitia, Libertas, presented to the Columbia University Bicentennial by the Freie Universität Berlin and the Deutsche Hochschule für Politik (Berlin, 1954).