The Politics of Party Policy—From Members to Legislators

Anika Gauja examines the complexities and tensions in the relationship between party members and parliamentarians through an in-depth analysis of the structures and processes that shape the development of party policy, and the respective role of members and parliamentarians in the formulation of policy and its transferral to the legislative arena. Providing a timely contribution to the current scholarly and public debate on the future of political parties, the book presents significant new evidence on the challenges facing both established and emerging political parties in encouraging citizen participation in policy development and counters some of the overly simplistic judgments that are often made about participation and disengagement by revealing the complexity of the relationships that are involved in modern party systems.

Anika Gauja is a Lecturer in Government and International Relations at the University of Sydney, Australia. Her research focuses on the comparative analysis of political institutions in modern representative democracies. She has published widely in international journals including Party Politics, Parliamentary Affairs and the Journal of Legislative Studies. She is also the author of Political Parties and Elections: Legislating for Representative Democracy and co-author of Powerscape: Contemporary Australian Politics.