Post-Imperial Democracies: Ideology and Party Formation in Third Republic France, Weimar Germany, and Post-Soviet Russia

by Stephen E. Hanson

Overview

This book examines the causal impact of ideology through a comparative-historical analysis of three cases of “post-imperial democracy”: the early Third Republic in France (1870-1886); the Weimar Republic in Germany (1918-1934); and post-Soviet Russia (1992-2008). Hanson argues that political ideologies are typically necessary for the mobilization of enduring, independent national party organizations in uncertain democracies. Clear and consistent ideologies can artificially elongate the temporal horizons of their adherents. By presenting an explicit and desirable picture of the political future, successful ideologues induce individuals to embrace a long-run strategy of cooperation with other converts. When enough new converts cooperate in this way, it enables sustained collective action to defend and extend party power. Successful party ideologies thus have the character of self-fulfilling prophecies: by portraying the future polity as one organized to serve the interests of those loyal to specific ideological principles, they help to bring political organizations centered on these principles into being.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521709859
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	07/05/2010
Series:	Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	306
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Stephen E. Hanson is the Vice Provost for Global Affairs and the Herbert J. Ellison Professor at the Department of Political Science at the University of Washington. Hanson is the author of Time and Revolution: Marxism and the Design of Soviet Institutions (1997), which received the 1998 Wayne S. Vucinich book award from the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic Studies. His more recent publications include Postcommunism and the Theory of Democracy (2001, with Richard Anderson Jr., M. Steven Fish, and Philip Roeder), and articles in journals including Comparative Political Studies, Comparative Politics, Communist and Post-Communist Studies, and East European Politics and Societies. He also served as Assistant General Editor of the Cambridge University Press Series in Comparative Politics until 2008.

Table of Contents

Part I: 1. Weberian methodological individualism; 2. A Weberian theory of ideology; 3. Ideology and party formation; Part II: 4. The founding of the French Third Republic; 5. The rise and fall of the Weimar Republic; 6. Post-Soviet Russia; 7. Conclusion: bringing ideology back in.

Editorial Reviews

In the decades since the third wave of global democratization began, we have once again become aware of how critical well-functioning political parties are to the consolidation of democracy. Using historical and contemporary cases, Stephen Hanson investigates the question of how and when strong, coherent parties develop and puts forward a provocative argument about the role of ideology in the whole process. Students of democracy will find this a valuable and timely contribution to the literature on democratic consolidation.”
– Sheri Berman, Barnard College

“Post-Imperial Democracies brims with theoretical originality and bold propositions backed by evidence culled from painstaking research on several major cases. Its central claim – that ideology should be treated as a major driver of political outcomes – could not be more forcefully articulated, more skillfully supported, or more engagingly presented. Here we have a work that fits – and might help resurrect – the grand tradition of comparative social inquiry.”
– M. Steven Fish, University of California, Berkeley

“Post-Imperial Democracies is destined to be a big book in comparative politics. Brilliantly recasting Weberian theory for a return to mainstream political science, Stephen E. Hanson argues that political behavior cannot be fully understood through a rational choice paradigm. Weberianism, in fact, can tell us when people display instrumental rationality and when they act according to habit, affect, or deeply held values that overpower all strategic considerations. Ideology is one such set of values, Hanson contends, explaining why seemingly crazy zealots often turn out to be the most successful party-builders in troubling times, Hitler being only the most infamous example. Hanson’s theory provides fascinating reinterpretations of party and regime development in Third Republic France, Weimar Germany, and post-Soviet Russia.”
– Henry E. Hale, George Washington University

"Stephen E. Hanson has written a very stimulating book seeking to explain how ideology plays a central role in the formation of successful parties in times of uncertainty."
– Graeme Gill, University of Sydney, Australia, Slavic Review

From the Publisher