Originally published in Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books, 1994, Vol 39(2), 225. Reviews the book, The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion by John Zaller (1992). The author's commendable effort to specify a model of mass opinion formation offers readers an introduction to the prevailing vi

The Nature and Origins of Mass Opinion.

The Political Consciousness of Post-Industrialism@@@The Silent Revolution: Changing Values and Political Styles among Western Publics.

As Europe enters a significant phase of re-integration of East and West, it faces an increasing problem with the rise of far-right political parties. Cas Mudde offers the first comprehensive and truly pan-European study of populist radical right parties in Europe. He focuses on the parties themselves, discussing them both as dependent and independent variables. Based upon a wealth of primary and secondary literature, this book offers critical and original insights into three major aspects of European populist radical right parties: concepts and classifications; themes and issues; and explanations for electoral failures and successes. It concludes with a discussion of the impact of radical right parties on European democracies, and vice versa, and offers suggestions for future research.

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Populist radical right parties in Europe

Introduction Part I. Policy and Party Competition 1. Policy dimensions and political preferences 2. "Policy spaces" and models of party competition Part II. Measuring Policy Positions 3. The expert surveys as a measurement tool 4. Measurement issues: bias and error correction in expert survey results 5. The Dimensionality of policy spaces 6. Comparing patterns of party competition Part III. Data Appendices References Index

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Party Policy in Modern Democracies

How is contestation on European integration structured among national political parties? Are issues arising from European integration assimilated into existing dimensions of domestic contestation? We show that there is a strong relationship between the conventional left/right dimension and party positioning on European integration. However, the most powerful source of variation in party support is the new politics dimension, ranging from Green/alternative/libertarian to Traditional/authoritarian/nationalist.

Does Left/Right Structure Party Positions on European Integration?

The Country and its Constitution - A Country of Minorities - Political Parties and the Party System - Citizens and the Political System - The Core Executive - Parliament - The Policy-Making Process - Multi-Level Governance - Social and Economic Policy - Foreign Policy - The Strengths and Weaknesses of Consensus Government

Governance and Politics of the Netherlands

Delegation from cabinet to ministers iscomplicated because the cabinet consists of the sameministers that are supposed to act as its agents. Inthe extreme case ministers are completely autonomouswithin their portfolio. This paper argues that theresulting potential for agency loss is limited, butnot negated, by both hierarchy and collectivedecision-making in cabinet, or by establishing directdelegation relationships between legislativecommittees or political parties and ministers,bypassing the government. Appointments to ministerialoffice are the prevailing exception to ministerialautonomy. To the extent that ministerial preferencesare not stable and exogenous, screening beforeappointments is an ineffective control, andministerial identification with departmental interestsis the most probable source of agency loss.

Ministers as double agents? The delegation process between cabinet and ministers

The study of party unity and its determinants is conceptually confusing, with terms such as ‘party discipline’ and ‘party cohesion’ used to denote both dependent and independent variables. Moreover, while the literature recognizes both anticipated sanctions and homogeneity of preferences as pathways to party unity, it ignores possibilities such as party loyalty and the division of labour within parliamentary parties. The article examines these different pathways to party unity on the basis of five waves of interviews with nearly all members of the Lower House of the Dutch parliament. The article finds least evidence for sanctions as a major determinant of party unity, with the possible exception of parties in the governing coalition. Homogeneity, loyalty and division of labour all seem to play an important role. Party unity might seem over determined, but the more likely explanation offered is that it is a case of ‘different horses for different courses’.

Pathways to party unity: Sanctions, loyalty, homogeneity and division of labour in the Dutch parliament

The mandate-independence controversy still features prominently in studies of political representation even though the problems with its theoretical foundation and empirical operationalization have long been recognized. This article proposes an alternative typology of modes of representation. By combining type of control (ex ante or ex post) with direction of the interactions (bottom-up or top-down), our study captures the most important aspects of the relationship between voters and representatives. We demonstrate how the typology can be used in a survey instrument by comparing the attitudes toward representation of Dutch members of Parliament with the attitudes held by voters, and by relating the views of the members to their behavior.

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Modes of Political Representation: Toward a New Typology

List of Tables, Figures, Exhibits and Maps - Preface - The Country and the People - A Country of Minorities - Political Parties and the Party System - Electronics - The Cabinet - Parliament - The Policy-Making Process: Territorial Centralisation and Functional Decentralisation - Socio-Economic Policy - Foreign Policy - The Capability of a Fragmented System - Further Reading - Main Data Sources - Bibliography - Index

Rudy B. Andeweg

Papers

Governance and Politics of the Netherlands

Ministers as double agents? The delegation process between cabinet and ministers

Pathways to party unity: Sanctions, loyalty, homogeneity and division of labour in the Dutch parliament

Modes of Political Representation: Toward a New Typology

Dutch government and politics