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Theories of deliberative democracy presume too narrow an understanding of political communication. Several forms of communication additional to argument are important for political debate, especially between members of more dominant and more marginalized groups. Greeting, rhetoric, and narrative each have important functions for public acknowledgement of interlocutors and communication when premises are not shared.

For thirty years following the end of the Second World War, it was orthodox to regard Britain as having one of the most stable and party‐oriented political systems in the Western world—parties penetrated state and society so significantly that it was virtually impossible to conceive of political life in the country without thinking first and foremost of party political life. However, since the middle of the 1970s, old certainties have been challenged by a continuing and multi‐dimensional debate about the transformation of British party politics. This challenge is predicated on a number of interconnected developments, which include: the apparent growth of electoral volatility; the spread of partisan and class dealignment; the emergence of nationalist cleavages in Scotland and Wales, which have threatened to fragment the national political culture; the erosion of two‐party electoral domination; and the growing chorus of criticism levelled at the damaging iniquities of the electoral system and the adversarial ‘winner‐takes‐all’ political mentality that is closely associated with it. Despite this, the single‐member plurality (SMP) (first‐past‐the‐post) electoral system continues to ensure that single‐party majority governments remain the norm. This chapter looks at what such changes imply for the general status of parties in the country, and is arranged in the same three sections as the other country case studies in the book; these examine the popular legitimacy of British political parties, their organizational strength, and their systemic functionalities (in governance and political recruitment, interest articulation and aggregation, political communication, and political participation).

The American party system has experienced considerable change since 1960, and the meaning of this change is the subject of much debate, at the core of which is a basic question: how functional is the American party system after four turbulent decades? Depending on the evidence considered, scholars offer different answers to this question, ranging from a loss of functionality due to party ‘decline’ to potential gains from party ‘revival’. Reviews these arguments and assesses changes in key aspects of the American party system between 1960 and 1996. It finds some merit in both the ‘declinist’ and ‘revivalist’ points of view. There is a brief introductory section to the current situation, and this is followed by two further introductory sections, which present a more in‐depth discussion of the American ‘two‐party’ (Republicans and Democrats) system, and of party decline and revival. The next three sections cover the same topics as those in the other country case studies in the book, and examine the popular legitimacy of American parties, the organizational strength of American parties, and the systemic functionality of American parties (governance and political recruitment, interest articulation and aggregation, political communication and education, and encouraging political participation).

The electoral explosion that overthrew the established patterns of Canada's national party system in 1993 marked the end of yet another cycle in Canadian party system development, for there had been similar reshapings in the early 1960s and in the 1920s. In each case, the party transformations were about more than shifting electoral alignments and party fortunes, they also involved radical changes in the organization and activities of the parties concerned. However, although the formal organizational structure of Canadian parties has varied considerably, they have all been essentially cadre‐like in their structure and character, and the core linkage problem has been one of tying an American society to European‐style governing institutions. Electoral realignments have also been cast in geographic rather than social structural terms, and recent decades have seen the disintegration of the party system in a different sense as federal (national) politics has become increasingly disentangled from provincial politics. The introduction discusses these topics; the next three sections cover the same topics as those in the other country case studies in the book, and examine the possible crisis in party legitimacy in Canada, the cadre organizations of the Canadian cadre parties, and the functions of the Canadian cadre parties in a modern polity (governance, political recruitment, interest articulation and aggregation, participatory organizations, and political communication and education).

Spain has made a number of experiments with democracy, but only since the mid‐1970s has this been successful. At that time, strenuous efforts were made to ensure that political parties would come forward, and as a result the new democracy had two key aspects: the creation of synthetic parties (in the sense that they are supported more from above than below), and the building of a parties state. The introductory part of the chapter discusses these changes and also has a section looking at the institutional framework that had such a shaping effect on party politics; this discusses the electoral system, and the rules governing parliamentary group organization and party finance. The next three sections cover the same topics as those in the other country case studies in the book, and examine party legitimacy (party membership, electoral turnout and volatility, popular assessments, party–voter ties, and evaluating party legitimacy), party organizational strength (parliamentary party organization, mass party organization, party finance, ‘goods in kind’ received by parties, and evaluating party organizational strength), and the systemic functionality of parties (governance, political recruitment and patronage, interest articulation and aggregation, political participation, political communication and education, and evaluating the systemic functionality of parties). The concluding section assesses the viability of Spain's parties state and gives a comparative analysis of its experience of democracy.

Placed in a comparative perspective, the hallmark of Australian politics is the dominance of party: the vast majority of voters identify with and vote for one of the major political parties, and gaining election at the federal level is next to impossible without the benefit of one of three party labels (Liberal, National, or Labour). Within the legislature, party government operates in every sense of the word, with parties determining the legislative agenda and enforcing rigid discipline among their members. Perhaps more interestingly from a comparative perspective, Australia has seen little decline in the strength of the major parties in recent years, in contrast to Britain, the US, or many of the other advanced democracies. The explanation for the continuing strength of political parties in Australia can be traced to the origins and development of the country's political culture; Australia's split from Britain was imbued with the utilitarian ideas of Jeremy Bentham and his followers, and political parties are a necessary and important part of this utilitarian political culture. The introductory part discusses these factors, and also presents a separate account of the development of the party system; the next three sections cover the same topics as those in the other country case studies in the book, and examine party legitimacy (turnout—voting is compulsory, party identification, party membership, and attitudes towards parties), organizational strength (party finance, and mass media), and systemic functionality (governance, interest articulation and aggregation, political recruitment, political organization, political participation, and political communication and education).

The 1949 (West) German Basic Law established a system of party‐based democracy that has now endured for more than half a century, yet today's political system is not identical to that of earlier years. Since the beginning of the 1980s, new party alternatives have made coalition politics harder to manage, the established parties have lost votes and members, and waning public support for all the parties has drawn unfavourab1e attention to the parties’ entrenched positions. These changes grew more pronounced in the 1990s, exacerbated, though not caused, by German unification, and developments reached a new stage in 1998, when one of the new parties of the 1980s, the Greens, became a party of government—an event made possible at least as much by the transformation of the Green Party itself as by a revolution in German politics. Nevertheless, despite the recent challenges to traditional political patterns, Germany remains very much a parties state, with parties still serving as the central mechanisms for political linkage and political decision‐making, and the same big parties being the principal players in state and federal coalition politics. The introductory sections discuss German parties and political institutions; the next three sections cover the same topics as the other country case studies in the book, and examine party legitimacy, party organizational strength (finance, staffing, members, mass media, parties in eastern Germany), and party functionality (in governance, interest articulation and aggregation, political participation, political recruitment and patronage, and political communication and education).

Scandinavian party systems have often been seen as ‘ultra stable’, a view that was certainly justified between 1945 and the early 1970; however, the general election of 1973 in Denmark signalled a new era of instability as the three major parties saw their aggregate share of the vote slashed; soon similar developments became visible in Norway, to some extent in Finland, and (a little later) in Sweden. The main political actors in the Scandinavian democracies are organized around conflicts between labour and capital, and between the rural peripheries and urban centres; the five party families of the classic Scandinavian model (social democracy, conservatism, liberalism, agrarian ‘centrism’, and communism) are deeply anchored in these social bases, with class especially having been a more important determinant of party loyalty than in other west European democracies; in particular, the mutual tolerance and moderation that parties typically accord each other in consensus democracies has resulted in the creation of an extensive and well‐known mixed welfare economy. However, the classic five‐party model no longer provides a comprehensive account of party politics in Scandinavia: since the early 1970s a variety of other parties, old and new, have emerged, and this has led to doubt as to whether the Scandinavian party systems remain distinctive, although they may still be located in the category of moderate pluralism. The increasing fragmentation of parliaments has also affected governments in different ways in the four countries. The introduction discusses these changes; the next three sections cover the same topics as those in the other country case studies in the book, and examine (the erosion of) party legitimacy, party organizational strength (finance, members), and the systemic functionality of political parties (in governance, political recruitment, interest articulation and aggregation, political participation, and political communication).

Until as recently as the mid‐1970s, Irish party politics had an unchanging nature and was characterized as a two‐and‐a‐half party system (Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, and the smaller Labour Party) dominated by Fianna Fáil. However, the last part of the twentieth century has seen dramatic changes. The dominance of Fianna Fáil ended, and whereas governments from 1932 to 1969 changed only four times, in the last 30 years, no government has been fully returned to power, and there have been coalition governments—a normal experience of proportional representation systems (Ireland has a single transferable vote system) although it had not previously occurred in Ireland. There has also been a host of new parties, although recently there has been some rationalization (with a formal merger between Labour and the Democratic Left in January 1999) and the party system has become more unpredictable, while at the same time showing signs of becoming more regulated. The introduction discusses these changes; the next three sections cover the same topics as those in the other country case studies in the book, and examine party legitimacy, party organizational strength (party finance, staffing, members, access to/control of the media) and the systemic functionality of parties (governance, political recruitment, interest articulation and aggregation, political participation, and political communication and education).

The first introductory section discusses the evolution of the current party system in New Zealand, from a system dominated by the two parties around which it had aligned in the 1930s, to the consequences for party composition and representation of the change from the first past the post (FPTP) or single‐member plurality (SMP) electoral system, to the new mixed‐member proportional (MMP) system under which the 1996 and 1999 elections were fought. The second introductory section discusses theoretical issues associated with party system dealignment that has resulted. The next three sections cover the same topics as those in the other country case studies in the book, and examine party legitimacy, party organizational strength (party finance, staffing, membership activity, and media), and systemic functionality (governance, interest articulation and aggregation, political recruitment, and political communication and education).

This introductory chapter describes the aim of the book and the scope and framework of the analysis it presents. It distinguishes three broad types of research inquiry into the performance and standing of political parties: (1) studies focusing on party connections with the electorate (e.g. partisan dealignment, electoral volatility, membership change); (2) studies examining the development of party organizations over time; and (3) studies investigating aspects of party performance on behalf of the wider political system. Accordingly, each of the country case studies in the following 13 chapters are divided into the same three sections, plus an introduction, and a conclusion. These three sections cover: the popular legitimacy of parties; party organizational strength; and the systemic functionality of parties—which addresses governance and political recruitment, interest articulation and aggregation, political participation, and political communication and education.

For over forty years, Italy was seen as a ‘party government’ system, with a party system that was extremely fragmented, consisting of up to 10 national parties, at least seven of which could at any time be considered ‘relevant’. As a consequence of various factors that found expression in the results of two crucial elections in 1992 and 1994, all of this has abruptly come to an end. Party organizations have literally fallen apart after at least thirty years of successful adaptation to societal and political system changes, with all parties and other electoral competitors having been deeply affected, and a number of the traditional parties, including the three largest ones, suffering divisions and transformations. The transformation was the result of three sets of direct causes: first, there had been shifts in political demand for specific parties or even parties in general, resulting from greater potential voter mobility; second, there had been change in the political supply provided by the parties; and third, the new electoral law impacted directly on the parties’ parliamentary delegations; some of these factors are arguably still effective, and the transformation of the Italian party system is far from complete. The introductory section of the chapter discusses this changing structure of the Italian party system; the next three sections of the chapter cover the same topics as the other country case studies in the book, and examine party legitimacy, party organizational strength, and party functionality (in governance, political recruitment, interest articulation and aggregation, political communication and education, and political participation).

Belgium and the Netherlands are often taken and presented together as the ‘Low Countries’, and there are good reasons for treating the two countries as part of a single category, since both are textbook examples of divided societies, which display the subcultural vertical segmentation that has travelled conceptually as verzuiling (desegmentation or pillarization) and share the well‐known features of consociational democracy. Being neighbours, moreover, Belgium and the Netherlands share much common history, although the border separating the two countries is highly significant, and explains a number of important differences between them. In both countries, the major parties can be grouped into three party families: religious (Christian), liberal, and socialist, and in both there has been party change since the 1960s, in which the losers have been the Christian and Socialist parties, and the Liberals have gained support; however, specific patterns have been quite different. Most symptomatic of the passing of the old politics has been the formation of the so‐called ‘purple’ governments, which exclude Christian Democrats, but draw together the ‘red’ socialists and the ‘blue’ liberals. The introduction discusses these changes (including depillarization and the erosion of consociationalism), and the differences between the two countries; the next three sections cover the same topics as those in the other country case studies in the book, and examine party legitimacy (voter turnout, party membership, partisan identification, bridging the ‘gap’ between voters and office‐holders, and the Belgian legitimacy crisis), the strength of party organizations, and the systemic functionality of parties (in governance and recruitment, and linkage functions—participation, aggregation, and communication).

This chapter develops grounded theory about the role of information and communication technologies in civil society development. Civic groups are important for democratization because they are, by definition, social organizations independent of the state. Across the Muslim world, civic associations are sprouting up as a result of the new, supportive information infrastructure provided by ICTs. Relatively cheap consumer electronics allow such civic groups to find new members and build affiliations with groups in cities and other countries. Such groups are particularly important in Muslim countries where political parties are illegal. The chapter reviews the ways in which the internet has had an impact on the political pacts negotiated between social elites and authoritarian regimes—pacts that determine the pace of political change.

Since the 1970s, academic interest in ‘parties at the European level’ has gone full circle. The story began in the 1970s, in the wake of the decision to hold direct elections to the European Parliament (EP), with widespread expectation of the coming of transnational European parties, but in the 1980s, when it was apparent that European elections would not produce European parties, and that transnational party activity would be restricted to the ‘party groups’ in the EP, a period of scepticism towards transnational parties set in. Nevertheless, since the 1990s, with the ‘party article’ in the Treaty on European Union, the new role of ‘party leaders’ summits’ and the emergence of rival party‐political agendas for the single market, there is renewed discussion of the desirability and feasibility of Euro‐parties as a way of connecting voters’ preferences to the European Union (EU) policy process. The introduction discusses the roots of the contemporary European parties (which go back to 1972), and gives an outline of the new ‘Euro‐parties’ (Party of European Socialists (PES), European Federation of Green Parties (EFGP), European Liberal, Democratic, and Reform Party (ELDR), and European Free Alliance) and their common goals. The next three sections cover the same topics as those in the other country case studies in the book, and examine party legitimacy (legitimacy via the European Parliament, and via the European elections), party organizational strength (organizational and behavioural cohesion, finance, staffing, members, and the media), and the systemic functionality of parties (governance, interest articulation and aggregation, political participation, political recruitment, and political communication and education).

General Charles de Gaulle, founder of the Fifth French Republic in 1958, was a bitter opponent of the unchecked power of political parties, for which he blamed the failure of earlier Republics, but his vision of the future was as naïve as his diagnosis of the past was tendentious, for the problem of the Third and Fourth Republics was rather the weakness of parties. The main surprise of the Fifth Republic was the emergence, from 1962, of the secure parliamentary majorities that France had hitherto lacked; in addition, since 1965, when de Gaulle himself found that he needed party support to campaign for re‐election, the presidency itself has been a key stake in party competition. These two developments transformed the role of parties, and the party system of the Fifth Republic may now be described as one of bipolar multipartism. This contains two distinct and opposed sets of dynamics (pressures): bipolarity, (which is encouraged in important ways by France's political institutions), and forces in the party system pointing towards fragmentation and multipartism; these pressures exist in every party system, but the French case is unusual because they are so evenly balanced. The introduction discusses this situation; the next three sections cover the same topics as those in the other country case studies in the book, and examine party legitimacy, party organizational strength (finance and staffing, and activism, and parties in civil society), and party functionality (in political recruitment, governance, interest articulation and aggregation, political participation, and political communication and education).

How exactly do we distinguish between deliberative and non-deliberative form and content in political communication? Particularly when it comes to large-scale processes in the broader public sphere, many deliberative democrats now recognize that rhetoric has an important place. This is especially true when it comes to communication linking the components of a deliberative system. Yet, rhetoric also has its well-known hazards, especially in the hands of demagogues and deceivers. There is a need for systemic as well as categorical tests for the sort of rhetoric that is defensible and desirable. Categorical tests focus on the content of the rhetoric itself. Systemic tests look too at the degree to which the rhetoric in question contributes to the construction of an effective deliberative system – or undermines any such system.