Book Review: Kees van Kersbergen and Barbara Vis, Comparative Welfare State Politics: Development, Opportunities, and Reform
| Published date | 01 February 2017 |
| Date | 01 February 2017 |
| Author | Pieter Vanhuysse |
| DOI | 10.1177/1478929916676745 |
| Subject Matter | Book ReviewsComparative Politics |
Political Studies Review 15 (1)
impact on the phenomenon and thus leaving the resonance and ‘ownership’. Using Qualitative
door open for the presidentialisation of parlia-
Comparative Analysis (QCA), the author then
mentary systems in certain phases. This book is identifies how these patterns combine into ‘syn-
essential for those interested in party politics, as ergy frameworks’ which can explain the undu-
well as for those concerned with the phenome-
lating electoral fortunes of the radical right.
non of presidentialisation and personalisation. It
Radical Right Parties in Central and Eastern
is accessible to scholars at all levels.
Europe is a methodologically bold and sophisti-
cated fusion of party competition theory,
notions of political opportunity structures, and
Maximilien Cogels
ideas about framing. Its thoroughly argued anal-
(Université Catholique de Louvain)
ysis generates conclusions that are both credible
© The Author(s) 2016
and original. The book’s key finding is that the
Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/1478929916672955
radical right parties succeed where they have
journals.sagepub.com/home/psrev
ownership of resonant frames on salient issues.
Mainstream competitors can block off the rise
Radical Right Parties in Central and Eastern
of the radical right either by keeping the nation-
Europe: Mainstream Party Competition and
alist issues it owns off the political agenda or –
Electoral Fortune by Bartek Pytlas. Abingdon:
if it cannot – by taking over these frames, albeit
Routledge, 2015. 260pp., £90.00 (h/b), ISBN
at the risk of mainstreaming them.
9781138889668
The book’s main weaknesses are arguably an
over-focus on the discursive, screening out a raft
Radical right parties have firmly established them-
of organisational and social factors and the many
selves in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) since unresolved questions about why the discursive
1989. However, their support...
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