Post-Imperial Democracies

"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 eh 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, Barkeley

"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