Democratic Partisanship

Explores how democratic norms resonate with party activists, and with what implications for representative government



Combines normative theories of democratic partisanship and the empirical study of political parties
Contributes a novel theoretical framework for the empirical analysis of democratic partisanship
Showcases an innovative and replicable methodology for focus group discussion and analysis
Draws on extensive original research conducted in France and Hungary with 117 political party members
Studies x number of political parties including the conservative Fidesz party and socialist MSzP in Hungary and Parti Socialiste (PS) and Union pour un Mouvement populaire (UMP) in France
Includes rare testimonies from within Fidesz, Hungary's governing radical right party since 2010
Includes 30 graphic visualisations of key differences in the outlooks of participants

Political parties are caught in the crossfire of contemporary criticism. Some are accused of being excessively technocratic and removed from citizens' concerns, while others are attacked for their populist discourse and for pandering to the base instincts of constituents. But what ideal of partisanship do we have in mind when we blame parties for the ills of democracy? And how do real-world parties actually compare to this normative ideal? Democratic Partisanship bridges political theory and empirical study to answer these questions. It explores and compares how key democratic norms hailed by political theorists, such as good justification and respect for opponents, resonate with right-wing and left-wing party members in Hungary and France.

Focusing on the partisan's perspective, the book explores how and why some party organisations reconcile the most contradictory democratic imperatives while others fail to uphold basic principles. Far from writing-off parties as intrinsically suspect, Democratic Partisanship makes an incisive case for a new partisan ethic in an age of democratic crises.