Western European party systems: On the trail of a typology

Abstract

Existing typologies frequently fail to bring out the extent of the development which has occurred in West European party systems. The purpose of this article is to propose a construction which is specifically applicable to the parliamentary form of government and which is of use in non‐static conditions. Whilst admitting that problems of measurement exist, the principal argument is that a distinction can be made between two levels of cohesion in a party system, the governing and the societal references. Their independent variation provides a typology which is sensitive and well‐articulated. The four major types are discussed and illustrated and some conclusions are drawn concerning the apparantly predominant West European type.

Notes

Reader in Government at the London School of Economics and Political Science. This article is a revised version of a paper preented at the Political Studies Association Conference in March 1978.