The Danish parliamentary election of 1981

The parliamentary election of 8 December 1981 brought no solution to Denmark's perennial problem of unstable minority government. On the contrary, the election weakened the Social Democratic government without significantly strengthening the Liberal-Conservative opposition. Electoral victory went to two relatively small parties, the People's Socialists on the left and Centre Democrats to the right of the centre. The election was followed by a two weeks' government crisis, after which the Prime Minister Anker Jørgensen reassumed the office which he has occupied continuously since January 1975.     

The 1981 Netherlands election

The Left in France. By Neill Nugent and David Lowe. London: Macmillan, 1982. Pp. xi + 275. £15.000.

Contemporary French Political Parties. Edited by David S. Bell. London: Croom Helm, 1982. Pp. 199, £13.95.     

The rise of Pasok: The Greek election of 1981

Presidents and Prime Ministers. Edited by Richard Rose and Ezra N. Suleiman. Washington: American Enterprise Institute, 1980. Pp. 347. £4.75.

Western European Party Systems. Edited by Peter H. Merkl. New York: Collier Macmillan, 1980. Pp. 676. £25.95.

Government and Administration in Western Europe. Edited by F. F. Ridley. Oxford: Martin Robertson, 1979. Pp. 244. £15 (hardback), £4.95 (paperback).

The Politics of Grandeur: Ideological Aspects of de Gaulle's Foreign Policy. By Philip G. Cerny Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1980 Pp. 319. £1250.

Contemporary France. Politics and Society Since 1945. By D. L. Hanley, A. P. Kerr and N. H. Waites. London: Routledge &; Kegan Paul, 1979. Pp. ix + 325. £8.50.

Social Change in France. By M. Vaughan, M. Kolinsky and P. Sheriff. Oxford: Martin Robertson, 1980. Pp. vii + 216. £9.95.

French Politics and Public Policy. Edited by Philip G. Cerny and Martin A. Schain. London: Frances Pinter, 1980. Pp. xxii + 300. £12.50.

The Unexpected Rebellion: Ethnic Activism in Contemporary France. By William B. Beer. Foreword by Nicolas Wahl. New York and London: New York University Press, 1980. Pp. 150.

La Décadence: 1932–1939. By J.‐B. Duroselle. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, ‘Politique Etrangère de la France’ Collection, 1979. Pp. 568.

French Conservatism in Crisis. The Republican Federation of France in 1930s. By William D. Irvine. Baton Rouge and London: Louisiana State University Press, 1979. Pp. xx + 256. Bibliography. Index. $17.50.

Vichy et La Corporation Paysanne. By Isabel Boussard. Paris: Presses de la fondation nationale des sciences politiques, 1980. Pp. 415.

L'aventure algérienne, 1940–1944: Pétain, Giraud, de Gaulle. By Lucien Adès. Paris: Pierre Belfond, 1979. Pp. 258.

France and the United States. By Jean‐Baptiste Duroselle. The University of Chicago Press, 1978. Translation. Pp. 276. £12.60.

Dualism and Discontinuity in Industrial Societies. By Suzanne Berger and Michael J. Piore. Cambridge: CUP, 1980. Pp. xi + 159. £10.50.

Mobilità senza movimento: Le elezioni del 3 giugno 1979. Edited by Arturo Parisi. Bologna: II Mulino, 1980. Pp. 160. 29 tables. L.8,000.

Eminenza Rossa. By Giancarlo Galli. Milan: Sugar Co Edizioni, 1976. Pp. 232. L.3,200

Maurizio Valenzi—Sindaco a Napoli. Interview by Massimo Ghiara. Rome: Editori Riuniti, 1978. Pp. 190. L. 2,000.

L'Albero in Piazza: storia, cronaca e leggenda delle feste dell ‘Unità. By Claudio Bernieri. Milan: Gabrielle Mazzotta editore, 1977. Pp. 167. L. 2,000.

Le origini dello stalinismo nel PCI: storia della ‘svolta’ comunista degli anni trenta. By Ferdinando ORMEA. Milan: Feltrinelli Editore, 1978. Pp. 344. L.9,000.

Berlinguer. By Vittorio Gorresio. Milan: Feltrinelli Editore, 1976. Pp. 200. L.2,500.

Capital Markets and Industrial Investment in Germany and France. By B. T. Bayliss and A. A. S. Butt Philip. London: Saxon House, 1980. Pp. xiii + 198. £10.50.

Britain in Europe. Edited, by William Wallace. London: Heinemann, 1980. Pp. x + 213. £4.95 (paperback) £10.50 (hardback).

British Foreign Policy and the Atlantic Area. By ARTHUR Cyr. London and Basingstoke: Macmillan Press, 1979. Pp. 172. £10.00.

The Reluctant Party: Labour and the EEC, 1961–1975. By L.J. Robins. Ormskirk: G. W. and A. Hesketh, 1979. Pp. 155.

Budgetary Politics: The Finances of the European Communities. By Helen Wallace. London: George Allen &; Unwin, 1980. Pp. 120. £6.95 (hardback), £2.95 (paperback).

The Economics of International Integration. By Peter Robson. London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd., 1980. Pp. ix + 197. £12.50. £4.95 (paperback).

Agriculture and the European Community. By John S. Marsh and Pamela J. Swanney. London: George Allen &; Unwin, 1980. Pp. 98. £6.95 (hardback), £2.95 (paperback).

The European Community and the Third World: The Lome Convention and its Impact. By Ellen Frey‐Wouters. Eastbourne: Hall‐Saunders Ltd., Praeger Special Studies, 1980. Pp. xii+290. £15.50.

The International Division of Labour and Multinational Companies. A study by P. K. M. Tharakan and a symposium at ECSIM. Farnborough: Saxon House, 1979. Pp. 152.

Regional Policy: Past Experience and New Directions. Edited by Duncan Macklennan and John B. Parr. Oxford: Martin Robertson, 1979. Pp. xviii + 334. £17.50 (hardback), £6.95 (paperback).

Regional Policy in the European Community. Edited by D. Yuill, K. Allen and C. Hull. London: Croom Helm, 1980. Pp. 251. £12.95.

A Political and Electoral Handbook for Wales. By Denis Balsom and Martin Burch. Farnborough: Gower, 1980. Pp. x + 195. £12.50.

Western European Cities in Crisis. Edited by Michael C. Romanos. Lexington, Mass: Lexington Books, 1979. Pp. xviii + 243.

A Tale of Five Cities: Life in Provincial Europe Today. By John Ardagh, London: Secker and Warburg, 1979. Pp. 457. £8.95.     

The 2005 Danish general election: A phase of consolidation

On 18 January 2005, Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen called for a general election to be held on 8 February 2005, nine months before the deadline for the next election. Political themes are usually cited when calling Danish elections, but this time the calendar was used as an excuse: because of major reforms to the municipal structure, a significant amount of legislation had to be negotiated and settled in the spring, and it was unclear whether this could be done by June, thereby hindering an election in late spring; and an election in September could possibly overshadow the important elections to the new municipal councils (created as a result of the reform) in November. Nevertheless, favourable opinion polls undoubtedly also played a major role when the Prime Minister asked the Danes to renew and extend the mandate of his Liberal–Conservative (aka Venstre–Conservative) coalition government.     

Norway: The 1981 election confirms trend to the right

The Storting election of 13 and 14 September 1981 resulted in a marked swing to the right, a trend which has been evident since the middle of the 1970s (Valen, 1976; Valen, 1978; Kristiansen & Holbæk Hansen, 1980). The socialist parties lost their majority in the Storting, and the Labour minority government which had been in power since 1973, resigned. After an unsuccessful attempt to form a coalition government between the three leading bourgeois parties, the Conservative party, the Agrarian Centre party and the Christian People's party, the Conservatives formed a minority government with parliamentary support from the two other parties.     

Political change and stability of the popularity function: The French general election of 1981

France experienced in May, 1981, a drastic political change, the influence of which on stability of the popularity function, from V. Giscard d'Estaing to F. Mitterrand, is examined here. First, a survey of existing estimates of French popularity functions is presented, and the main problems they raise are briefly discussed. The theoretical effects of government change are then analyzed, with a distinction between global effects (honeymoon and others) and distribution effects; these effects are then linked to the moves of ideologically motivated voters. Finally, new estimates are presented on French data for two periods, the first corresponding to Giscard's tenure only and the second including Mitterrand's tenure. The main conclusion is that the popularity function remained fairly stable, except for a move in the intercept when the Socialists came to power. This move is, in large part, the result of attitudinal changes in the more ideologically oriented electors, as results on disaggregated data indirectly confirm.     

Stronger core,weaker fringes: the Danish general election 2019

Abstract

The 2015–2019 election period was long; hence, the election campaign had already begun when the Prime Minister called the election for 5 June 2019, just 10 days after the EP election. Nine already established parties, one old yet unrepresented party and three new parties, two of which are (very) opposed to immigration, fielded candidates across the 10 electoral districts for the 175 seats in parliament (excluding the four MPs elected in Greenland and the Faroe Islands). The overlapping EP election, climate and immigration characterised the campaign agenda. One of the new (anti-immigration) parties made it into parliament, and among the established parties, some were (more than) halved, others were (more than) doubled and some remained stable. In particular, the two government (supporting) parties, Liberal Alliance and Danish People’s Party, received a slap in the face from the electorate. While the Prime Minister’s party, the Liberals, did well, the majority shifted to left of centre, which resulted in a minority Social Democratic government headed by Mette Frederiksen, supported by the Red?Green Alliance, Socialist People’s Party and Social Liberals.     

Muffling the swing: STV and the Irish general election of 1981

This article explores alternative hypotheses for variation in the political salience of unemployment. The differences between the political opinions of employed and unemployed people are used as a proxy for the qualitative importance of unemployment. Unemployment is not found to be more politically salient when government support of the unemployed is more generous or when jobless spells are shorter. Far more important is the character of employment. Unemployment is more politically salient in countries where employment guarantees a basic livelihood. The data also suggest that unemployment has greater salience in countries where the unemployed are more likely to use state employment exchanges in searching for work. Two conclusions are suggested. First, public toleration of high unemployment in recent decades may be partly the result of the rise of atypical work arrangements. Second, while it is debatable whether social‐democratic protections of employment standards increase unemployment rates, such efforts may inadvertently increase the political costs of high unemployment.     

Election promises and government performance in Greece: PASOK's fulfilment of its 1981 election pledges

Abstract. The 'mandate theory' of democracy rests on the idea that electors choose political parties on the basis of the alternative government programmes they offer during an election campaign. Thus, the question of whether or not programmes are fulfilled in government is central in assessing the effectiveness of democratic processes. In its election manifesto for the 1981 general election the then opposition socialist party, PASOK, proposed a radical reform of Greek society. The degree to which its proposals were actually implemented in its first period of office (1981–85) points up the constraints facing any reformist party trying to fulfil its promises. Following recently published research on pledge fulfilment in Britain and Canada, this study identifies the definite pledges made by PASOK in its 1981 electoral manifesto and checks how far they actually found their way into government outputs up to 1985.
The main findings are that PASOK clearly promised important reforms in 1981 and to a considerable extent implemented them.     

The 1984 Luxembourg election

The emergence of new interest groups and social movements in the 1960s and 1970s facilitated a participation explosion in Western democracies. With increased levels of education and improved understanding of the workings of the political process, modern citizens are now faced with a vibrant and growing market for political activism. Political parties face an especially strong challenge in this market‐place as it appears that citizens now make a succession of participatory decision, akin to impulse buying in a supermarket. It is not surprising that the market share which traditional parties retain is apparently in decline. Whether this is problematic for democracy is more open to debate than conventional models of participation would suggest.