Democracy in the ‘Void’: Peter Mair and party politics

Abstract

ABSTRACT Peter Mair’s final contribution to political science was an indictment of the state of democracy based on his career-long study of party and party system adaptation in comparative contexts, as well as on an analysis and reflection on the nature and causes of the tension between responsiveness and responsibility for party government. The essays in this issue demonstrate that the concerns that underpinned Peter Mair’s work are still central to the debate on political parties and party-based democracy. Together they reflect the enduring centrality of Mair’s professional scholarship to the study of party politics in Western Europe. The very cumulative character of this special issue helps identify and highlight the central analytic and theoretical themes of his work. The line of research and theoretical reflection Peter Mair started over four decades ago, beginning with his studies on party organization, continues in the works of his contemporaries and students. The essays in this collection are an unmistakable proof of the endurance of his legacy.