Gideon Rahat

What do Beppe Grillo, Silvio Berlusconi, Emmanuel Macron (and also Donald Trump) have in common? They are prime examples of the personalization of politics and the decline of political parties. This volume systematically examines these two prominent developments in contemporary democratic politics and the relationship between them. It presents a cross-national comparative comparison that covers around 50 years in 26 democracies through the use of more than 20 indicators. It offers the most comprehensive comparative cross-national estimation of the variance in the levels and patterns of party change and political personalization among countries to date, using existing works as well injecting fresh cross-national comparative data. In the case of party change, it offers an analysis that extends beyond the dichotomous debate of party decline versus party adaptation. In the matter of political personalization, the emphasis on variance helps in bridging between the high theoretical expectations and disappointing empirical findings. As for the theoretically sound linkage between the two phenomena, not only is this the first study to comprise a comprehensive cross-national examination, but it also proposes a more nuanced understanding of this relationship. Comparative Politics is a series for researchers, teachers, and students of political science that deals with contemporary government and politics. Global in scope, books in the series are characterised by a stress on comparative analysis and strong methodological rigour. The series is published in association with the European Consortium for Political Research. For more information visit: www.ecprnet.eu. The series is edited by Emilie van Haute, Professor of Political Science, Université libre de Bruxelles; Ferdinand Müller-Rommel, Director of the Center for the Study of Democracy, Leuphana University; and Susan Scarrow, John and Rebecca Moores Professor of Political Science, University of Houston.

While primary elections are most often associated with presidential candidates in the United States, similar methods for selecting party leaders and candidates are becoming increasingly common in parliamentary democracies around the world. The Promise and Challenge of Party Primary Elections introduces the first comprehensive examination of both the concept and the practice of primary elections outside of the United States. By offering a clear definition of primary elections and examples of their types, the authors deliver the tools needed for comparative analysis within and across diverse party systems. Focusing their attention on Canada and Israel - two early adopters of primary elections - the authors unveil the most pressing challenges of conducting internal elections, including questions of financing, monitoring and oversight, and the recruitment of new party members. At the same time, the book highlights the democratic benefits of primaries through direct and widespread participation in internal party decision making. Drawing upon the experience of parties with a long history of primary elections, The Promise and Challenge of Party Primary Elections offers valuable lessons and insights for parties around the world in search of more open and inclusive democratic practices.

While primary elections are most often associated with presidential candidates in the United States, similar methods for selecting party leaders and candidates are becoming increasingly common in parliamentary democracies around the world. The Promise and Challenge of Party Primary Elections introduces the first comprehensive examination of both the concept and the practice of primary elections outside of the United States. By offering a clear definition of primary elections and examples of their types, the authors deliver the tools needed for comparative analysis within and across diverse party systems. Focusing their attention on Canada and Israel - two early adopters of primary elections - the authors unveil the most pressing challenges of conducting internal elections, including questions of financing, monitoring and oversight, and the recruitment of new party members. At the same time, the book highlights the democratic benefits of primaries through direct and widespread participation in internal party decision making. Drawing upon the experience of parties with a long history of primary elections, The Promise and Challenge of Party Primary Elections offers valuable lessons and insights for parties around the world in search of more open and inclusive democratic practices.

Can too much participation harm democracy? Democratic theory places great importance upon the conduct of elections, but it is not often recognized that the electoral game takes place in two arenas, not only between parties but also within them. This pioneering book presents a new approach to understanding political parties. It sheds light on the inner dynamics of party politics and offers the first comprehensive analysis of one of the most important processes any party undertakes - its process of candidate selection. Candidate selection methods are the mechanisms by which a party chooses its candidates for the general elections. It may be the function that separates parties from other organizations. For such an important function, this field has certainly faced a dearth of serious investigation. Hazan and Rahat, the leading scholars on this topic, conduct an in-depth analysis of the consequences of different candidate selection methods on democracy. This book is a culmination of almost two decades of research and defines the field of candidate selection. Part I of the book delineates candidate selection methods based on four major dimensions: candidacy; the selectorate; decentralization; and voting versus appointment systems. Part II analyses the political consequences of using different candidate selection methods according to four important aspects of democracy: participation; representation; competition; and responsiveness. The book ends with a proposed candidate selection method that optimally balances all four of the democratic aspects concurrently, and answers the question 'Is the most participatory candidate selection method necessarily the best one for democracy?' Comparative Politics is a series for students, teachers, and researchers of political science that deals with contemporary government and politics. Global in scope, books in the series are characterised by a stress on comparative analysis and strong methodological rigour. The series is published in association with the European Consortium for Political Research. For more information visit www.essex.ac.uk/ecpr The General Editor is Professor David M. Farrell, School of Politics and International Relations, University College Dublin.

Analyzes initiatives aimed at reforming the electoral and government systems of Israel in comparison to other established democracies. This book examines the success or failure of initiatives aimed at reforming regime structures in democracies, particularly their electoral and government systems. Through a comparative analysis of the several attempts at this type of reform in Israel over more than four decades, Gideon Rahat begins with the failed attempts at electoral reform in the 1970s and 1980s. He then analyzes Israel's successful attempt at promoting government system reform from 1988 to 1992. Finally, he compares the Israeli cases to cases of electoral reform in New Zealand, Japan, and Italy in the 1990s. While the book focuses on the Israeli cases, it places Israel within a comparative framework and makes an important contribution to the debate concerning the politics behind regime structure reform.