Discussions of party system change may be unsatisfactory if insufficient attention is given to the defining properties of a system. A number of dimensions have to be considered, but - as with `social cleavages' - there can be disagreement as to whether a truly constitutive element is involved....

This paper argues that strong center parties may lead to polarization, not moderation, and that we must reassess our assumptions regarding their contribution to healthy democratic systems. The relationship between the parliamentary strength of center parties and the level of party system...

A proper understanding of party system change demands a dynamic theory of party competition. This should integrate accounts of competition in the legislative party system, in particular coalition formation, with accounts of competition in the electoral party system, in particular vote...

Many years after its emergence in the vocabulary of comparative politics, the label of ‘anti-system’ is still one of the most used to describe a party or group that exerts a radical form of opposition. However, the term has been used in an increasingly idiosyncratic manner, which...