The Changing Basis of Political Conflict in Advanced Western Democracies
            
                Perspectives in Comparative Politics
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan; Palgrave Pivot
Published: 2013
Language: eng
Number of pages: 119
ISBN-13: 9781137306647
Description: This book is concerned with changes in the social structures, demographics, and issues in Western democracies along with the impact of those changes on party systems and policy outcomes. Three countries - the United States, the Netherlands, and Belgium - are examined to determine how they accommodate these changes. The United States is investigated as an example of a stable consolidated party system, the Netherlands is included as a representative fragmented parliamentary regime, and Belgium is an extreme example of a sub-culture alienated from the rest of the country. The conflict between the representation function and the function of forming a majority able to govern is stressed.