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Public Opinion and the Emergence of a Multi-Party System
Book chapter

Public Opinion and the Emergence of a Multi-Party System

William M Reisinger and Alexander I Nikitin
Public Opinion and Regime Change, pp.168-196
Routledge
1993
DOI: 10.4324/9780429303470-10

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Abstract

The state of public opinion provides, therefore, an important clue to the prospects for different announced parties. Political parties have traditionally been the key organizational links between the public and the politicians in democratic societies. If the republics formerly comprised by the Soviet Union are to succeed in creating democratic political orders, political parties or equivalent organizations will play a critical role in the process. Typically, political parties in modern democracies differ from other political organizations because they are organized at the local level, self-consciously endeavor to capture and hold decisionmaking power, and seek followers at the polls or in some manner strive for popular support. Parties can help integrate Citizens into the political system by channelling people's dissatisfaction into electoral competition, and by giving people a partisan identification. Sharp ethnic cleavages tend to create pressure for more numerous, more narrowly based parties.
Political Parties Stratified Quota Sampling Single Member Districts Reformist Party Anatolii Sobchak Majoritarian System Liberal Democratic Party Alexander Yakovlev West Germany Consensus System Islamic Revival Party AOD People's Deputies Young Men Strong Party Organization NATO Policy Decentralist Categories Popular Front Electoral Blocs CPSU Membership Specific Purpose Groups

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