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Britain at the polls: A study of the general election
Electoral Studies (1986). 5:1. 84-85
Book Notes Edited by BO S.iRLVK
Hilde T. Himmelweit, Patrick Humphreys, Marianne Jaeger, How Voters Decide: A Longitudinal Study of Political Attitudes and Voting Extending over F(fteen Years, Revised and updated edition, (Milton Keynes: Open University Press, 1985), xi + 283 pp. This is a revised and extended edition of the book that Professor Himmelweit and her collaborators published in its first edition in 1981. The new edition includes analyses of the British national election surveys in 1979 and 1983. This pathbreaking analysis of a long time-series of data centres on a ‘consumer model of voter choice’ bringing out the similarity in the way people decide what goods to buy and what party to ‘purchase’ at election time. Eckhard Jesse, Wahirecht zwijchen Kontinuitit und Reform: Eine Analyse der Wahlsystemdiskussion under der Wablrecbtiinderungen in der Bundesrepubiik Deutschland 1949-1983, (Diisseldod Droste Verlag, 1985), 440 pp. This work provides both a history of the electoral system of the Federal Republic of Germany and a thorough analysis of proposed and effected changes in the electoral law. The author undertakes a critical appraisal of the existing election system and argues for two significant changes: firstly, the two-vote ballot should be abolished so that a single vote would be a vote for both a constituency candidate and for the candidate’s party; secondly, the voter should be allowed to cast a ‘second preference’ vote which would be taken into account if the party of his first choice fails to surpass the 5 per cent threshold of representation. Carsten Lehman Sorensen, Europas BabeLstarn: En ana(vse af Europapar!amentsmedlemmernes baggrund, erfaringer ocb politiske synspunkter, (Europe’s Tower of Babel: An analysis of Euro-MPs background, experiences and political views), (Arhus: Politica, 1984) 138 pp. This is a report on the findings of an interview survey of iMembers of the European Parliament conducted by a team of European researchers in 1983. A very rich data material concerning the MEPs political views and their experiences as IMembers is presented in the many tables in this book, most of which are in the form of breakdowns of response distributions by country and by party. Ulf Lindstrom, Fascism in Scandinavia 1920-l 940. (Stockholm: Almquist Bi Wicksell International, 1985), vii+ 196 pp. This study of the Fascist and Nazi parties in Denmark, Norway and Sweden during the inter-war period describes how these parties emerged but also how their growth was stifled in the context provided by the Scandinavian political systems. (Occupation-time Nazi parties in Norway and Denmark are not covered by this study.) The main theme of the book is that constructive economic policies to deal with the economic depression in conjunction with the consensual political milieu created by ‘red-green’ pacts and coalitions in the party system preempted the potential electoral bases of the Fascist parties and relegated them to a marginal role. Austin Ranney (editor), Britain at the Polls: A Study of the General Election, (Durham. NC: Duke University Press: An American Enterprise Institute Book, 1985) xiv + 226 pp. This recent volume in the At the Polls series is a useful addition to the growing literature on the election in which the Conservatives won a landslide victory in terms of seats in spite of a decline in their share of the vote. The book contains chapters describing rMrs Thatcher’s first term, the party
0261-3794/86/01/0084-02/%03.00
01986
Butterworth
& Co (Publishers)
Ltd
Book Notes
85
campaigns, the role of opinions polls (which seems to have been unusually important as a factor affecting public opinion), the ethnic minorities’ vote, and a concluding analysis of the constellation of factors that enabled the Conservatives to ‘win a landslide without really trying’. Kevin Swaddle, The Darlington By-election of24 March 1983, (Mimeographed, Durham: University College, 1985) 70 pp. This admirable monograph discusses the movements of votes during one of the most significant of recent by-elections, in which the unexpected collapse of SDP support led to the survival of the Labour candidate (which probably saved Michael Foot to lead his party to defeat in the June 1983 general election). This study combines a narrative approach with the evidence of surveys and exit polls to explain the remarkable movements of opinion during a short campaign. Werner Wolf, W4hfk4mpf und Demokratie, (Cologne: Verlag Wissenschaft und Politik, 1985). 151 pp. Wolf divides his study of election campaigns in the Federal Republic of Germany into two parts. The first part is concerned with the theory and practice of election campaigning and illuminates the characteristics of campaigning by governmental and opposition parties. The second part discusses the planning and the strategies of election campaigning, for example, the function of party programmes, the role of leading candidates, and the influence of opinion research.
EJ
Book Notes Edited by BO S.iRLVK
Hilde T. Himmelweit, Patrick Humphreys, Marianne Jaeger, How Voters Decide: A Longitudinal Study of Political Attitudes and Voting Extending over F(fteen Years, Revised and updated edition, (Milton Keynes: Open University Press, 1985), xi + 283 pp. This is a revised and extended edition of the book that Professor Himmelweit and her collaborators published in its first edition in 1981. The new edition includes analyses of the British national election surveys in 1979 and 1983. This pathbreaking analysis of a long time-series of data centres on a ‘consumer model of voter choice’ bringing out the similarity in the way people decide what goods to buy and what party to ‘purchase’ at election time. Eckhard Jesse, Wahirecht zwijchen Kontinuitit und Reform: Eine Analyse der Wahlsystemdiskussion under der Wablrecbtiinderungen in der Bundesrepubiik Deutschland 1949-1983, (Diisseldod Droste Verlag, 1985), 440 pp. This work provides both a history of the electoral system of the Federal Republic of Germany and a thorough analysis of proposed and effected changes in the electoral law. The author undertakes a critical appraisal of the existing election system and argues for two significant changes: firstly, the two-vote ballot should be abolished so that a single vote would be a vote for both a constituency candidate and for the candidate’s party; secondly, the voter should be allowed to cast a ‘second preference’ vote which would be taken into account if the party of his first choice fails to surpass the 5 per cent threshold of representation. Carsten Lehman Sorensen, Europas BabeLstarn: En ana(vse af Europapar!amentsmedlemmernes baggrund, erfaringer ocb politiske synspunkter, (Europe’s Tower of Babel: An analysis of Euro-MPs background, experiences and political views), (Arhus: Politica, 1984) 138 pp. This is a report on the findings of an interview survey of iMembers of the European Parliament conducted by a team of European researchers in 1983. A very rich data material concerning the MEPs political views and their experiences as IMembers is presented in the many tables in this book, most of which are in the form of breakdowns of response distributions by country and by party. Ulf Lindstrom, Fascism in Scandinavia 1920-l 940. (Stockholm: Almquist Bi Wicksell International, 1985), vii+ 196 pp. This study of the Fascist and Nazi parties in Denmark, Norway and Sweden during the inter-war period describes how these parties emerged but also how their growth was stifled in the context provided by the Scandinavian political systems. (Occupation-time Nazi parties in Norway and Denmark are not covered by this study.) The main theme of the book is that constructive economic policies to deal with the economic depression in conjunction with the consensual political milieu created by ‘red-green’ pacts and coalitions in the party system preempted the potential electoral bases of the Fascist parties and relegated them to a marginal role. Austin Ranney (editor), Britain at the Polls: A Study of the General Election, (Durham. NC: Duke University Press: An American Enterprise Institute Book, 1985) xiv + 226 pp. This recent volume in the At the Polls series is a useful addition to the growing literature on the election in which the Conservatives won a landslide victory in terms of seats in spite of a decline in their share of the vote. The book contains chapters describing rMrs Thatcher’s first term, the party
0261-3794/86/01/0084-02/%03.00
01986
Butterworth
& Co (Publishers)
Ltd
Book Notes
85
campaigns, the role of opinions polls (which seems to have been unusually important as a factor affecting public opinion), the ethnic minorities’ vote, and a concluding analysis of the constellation of factors that enabled the Conservatives to ‘win a landslide without really trying’. Kevin Swaddle, The Darlington By-election of24 March 1983, (Mimeographed, Durham: University College, 1985) 70 pp. This admirable monograph discusses the movements of votes during one of the most significant of recent by-elections, in which the unexpected collapse of SDP support led to the survival of the Labour candidate (which probably saved Michael Foot to lead his party to defeat in the June 1983 general election). This study combines a narrative approach with the evidence of surveys and exit polls to explain the remarkable movements of opinion during a short campaign. Werner Wolf, W4hfk4mpf und Demokratie, (Cologne: Verlag Wissenschaft und Politik, 1985). 151 pp. Wolf divides his study of election campaigns in the Federal Republic of Germany into two parts. The first part is concerned with the theory and practice of election campaigning and illuminates the characteristics of campaigning by governmental and opposition parties. The second part discusses the planning and the strategies of election campaigning, for example, the function of party programmes, the role of leading candidates, and the influence of opinion research.
EJ