This book examines the behaviour of political parties in situations where they experience conflict between two or more important objectives. The volume contains a theoretical introduction and case studies of party leaders in Germany, Italy, France and Spain as well as six smaller European democracies.

Figures; Tables; Contributors; 1. Political parties and hard choices Kaare Strøm and Wolfgang C. Müller; 2. Office, votes and then policy: hard choices for political parties in the Republic of Ireland, 1981–1992 Michael Marsh and Paul Mitchell; 3. Party behaviour and the formation of minority coalition governments: Danish experiences from the 1970s and 1980s Jørgen Elklit; 4. From policy-seeking to office-seeking: the metamorphosis of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party Donald Share; 5. Changing strategies: the dilemma of the Dutch Labour Party Ron Hillebrand and Galen A. Irwin; 6. Party behaviour in a polarized system: the Italian Communist Party and the historic compromise Roberto D'Alimonte; 7. Decision for opposition: the Austrian Socialist Party's abandonment of government participation in 1966 Wolfgang C. Müller; 8. Leadership accountability and bargaining failure in Norway: the Presthus debacle Kaare Strøm; 9. Winner takes all: the FDP in 1982–1983: maximizing votes, office and policy? Thomas Poguntke; 10. Trade-offs in Swedish constitutional design: the monarchy under challenge Torbjörn Bergman; 11. Parliamentary rules and party behaviour during minority government in France John D. Huber; 12. Conclusions: party behaviour and representative democracy Wolfgang C. Müller and Kaare Strøm; Index.