Research Handbook on Political Partisanship

‘The Research Handbook on Political Partisanship brings new life into one of the oldest concepts of electoral research. Presenting a broad spectrum of theoretical perspectives and empirical analyses, the book is much more useful for present and future research than the literature reviews seen in many other handbooks. An updated understanding of the role of political identification today requires the in-depth discussions of its “two faces”, given in this Research Handbook. Party identification can be a “helper” and guide in a complex political landscape, but it can also be a “blinder”, barring competing views and preferences. The book argues not only for the need of parties to maintain emotional ties to their voters, but also for the need to keep party identification as an important tool for future students and scholars of political behaviour.’ 

Bernt Aardal, University of Oslo, Norway