Party government formation and policy preferences: An encompassing approach?

Up to the 1990s it appears (with hindsight) that party politics and party government in Western Europe were characterised by stable patterns. Bartolini and Mair (1990), for instance, demonstrated that patterns of electoral competition were more or less established, whereas Budge and Keman (1990) developed a ‘general’ theory of party government that reflected structural tendencies regarding party cooperation. Together with the ending of the Cold War, the accomplishment of the welfare state and, generally, a relatively high level of prosperity, all seemed well for everybody.