Party Families in Western Europe

This comprehensive and comparative book makes clear what party families are and, in doing so, helps categorise and make sense of parties in different countries. It describes the ideology of the families in Western Europe as well as classifying political parties accordingly. Furthermore, the book examines who the party families' supporters are in terms of their social background and political values. What role do class, education, and religion play in the 21st century? Finally, the book provides a discussion of the degree to which the concept of party families is still meaningful in the 21st century and how it needs to be studied comparatively and comprehensively. Is party family still valid as a conceptual device to classify and compare parties across countries in Western Europe? This text will be of key interest to scholars, students, and practitioners working in the field of political behaviour, political parties and party politics, policy studies, and more broadly comparative and European politics.

Peter Egge Langsæther is Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science, University of Oslo, Norway.

1. Introduction: Party Families and Their Voters in the 21st Century 2. Left Socialist Parties 3. Social Democratic Parties 4. Green Parties 5. Christian Democratic Parties 6. Liberal Parties 7. Conservative Parties 8. New Right Parties 9. Comparing the Party Families 10. Conclusion and Discussion: Sister Parties or Third Cousins?