Political Parties of the European Union

This textbook for comparative courses on European politics and for courses on the European Union provides a survey of the political parties of Europe. It contains chapters on the main parties of the largest EU countries from the Gaullists in France to PASOK in Greece. The case studies look at parties initially from the domestic perspective and then work outwards, examining the history of each party within Europe, its policies, its awareness of and attitudes to Europe and the cultural environment in which it operates. There are general chapters on Irish political parties and Scandinavian political parties in the context of their relationship with the European Union, and the book also contains comparative chapters which look at specific parties - Communist, Green and extreme-right - across the European Union. The final section of the book discusses the importance of political parties as determinants of European integration, focusing on trans-national federations and the role of the main groups - Christian Democrat and Socialist - within the European parliament. An introduction situates the chapters within an historical, comparative and theoretical framework.