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This is a history of political parties in ten nations (with the sections on France and Germany limited to specific period), and a critique of the existing literature that emphasizes the importance of electoral rules as determinative of political party systems.

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Introduction PART I: COUNTRIES WITH A DOMINANT PARTY DENMARK, SWEDEN, NORWAY 1. The Party System With The Various Degrees Of Dominance 2. The Voter Influence Structure Or The Search For The Possible Causes Of Dominance 3. A New Welcome Structure For The Protest Vote ITALY 1. Political Institutions. 2. Voters´ Influence Structure From 1946 To 1992 3. The Welcome Structure For The Vote Against The Government PART II: A QUASI TWO-PARTY SYSTEM AUSTRIA 1. Political Institutions 2. The Voter Influence Structure 3. Major Change Of The Welcome Structure For The Vote Against The Government PART III: A FRAGMENTED MULTIPARTY SISTEM THE NETHERLANDS 1. Political Institutions 2. The Voter Influence Structure 3. The Welcome Structure For The Vote Against The Government BELGIUM 1. Political Institutions 2. The Voter Influence Structure 3. The Welcome Structure For The Vote Against The Government FINLAND 1. Introduction And Political Institutions 2. The Voter Influence Structure 3. The Welcome Structure Modified FRANCE DURING THE FOURTH REPUBLIC 1. Political Institutions 2. The Voter Influence Structure 3. The Welcome Structure For The Vote Against Government WEIMAR GERMANY (1919-1932) 1. Political Institutions: The Right To Vote, Electoral And Party System 2. The Voter Influence Structure 3. A Welcome Structure Against The Government And Weimar 4. Conclusion

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After a BA from the University of Vermont and a JD from DC School of Law, Maria Rodriguez-McKey obtained a Master´s Degree in Russian Law from the Institute of State and Law of the Russian Academy of Sciences. A few years later, she did a post-graduate degree on elections from Pantheon Sorbonne Paris 1 University which lead her to an international practice of election observation and assistance mainly in the Balkan and the Caucuses. She collaborated on Elections in Asia and the Pacific: A Data Handbook (2001), and with Bernard Owen on two of his latest publications: La société civile : un cheval de Troie? and Le Processus Electoral : permanences et évolutions.

Bernard Owen earned a PhD in Political Science from the University Panthéon Sorbonne Paris 1, is now at the head of a post graduate election degree of the same University. He has been involved in electoral matters with international organizations and foreign States. His experience in evolving democracies spreads from far eastern Europe to Africa.
His most recent books are La société civile : un cheval de Troie? (2012), Géopolitique de la démocratie (2008), Le Processus Electoral : permanences et évolutions (2005).

Drs. Owen and Rodriguez-McKey have an electoral column on the website of the main financial daily Les Echos, and also write comments on the University Panthéon Sorbonne Paris 1 newsletter.

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