ABSTRACT
European politics is often characterized as having much sharper ‘partisan’ contours than in the US. Certainly during much of the twentieth century, political parties appeared to be far stronger in the ‘old world’ than the ‘new’. Unlike their US counterparts, many European parties were based on successful mass membership organizations. Ideological differences between parties, party elites and their supporters have also been more pronounced in Europe than the US. Similarly the cohesiveness and discipline of parties in legislatures was much higher in Europe. Not surprisingly, politics seemed to be ‘more partisan’ in Europe than elsewhere (Duverger 1954; Sartori 1976; Epstein 1980; Gallagher et al. 1995).
