ABSTRACT
This chapter expresses that a simple dimension from left to right is not sufficient to locate European parties in a meaningful way. It describes the political parties in European politics. The European political parties are located in a multidimensional political space. Political parties may be conceived of as the congealed preferences or beliefs of voters. Voters' political beliefs are varied and many – political parties reduce this multitude of ideas into a manageable number of ideological containers. The Industrial Revolution also created two cleavages: the conflict between landed interests and industrial entrepreneurs, and the conflicts between employers and owners of the means of production and workers. The development of political parties is closely linked with the process of nation building and democratization, particularly with the extension of mass suffrage. European Liberals are the most free-market-oriented among European political parties, whereas in the American political spectrum Liberals are the most critical of market forces.
