The End of Pragmatism? The Coalition Parties in the Early 1990s
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6234766 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Marian Simms (0000-0001-7768-9270, Australian National University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1994 |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue | sup1 |
| Pages | 28-41 |
| Publication date | 1994-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Australian Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1036-1146 • E-ISSN: 1363-030X |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/10361146.1994.11733425 |
| OpenAlex | W2408263660 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 10 |
This paper is set in the context of various debates about the nature of contemporary party systems. In particular it has been widely argued that within the West at least the traditional parties are everywhere in decline. Some have argued that class style parties have been transformed into ‘catch-all’ style parties. These, in turn, have lost touch with their traditional bases and, almost inevitably, lost their direction. Social movements and alternative parties are said to have moved into the vacuum. These debates are of intrinsic interest. Surprisingly there have been few attempts to assess their relevance for the Australian case. This paper uses the author's recent research on elites within the coalition parties in order to explore the issue of whether indeed these Australian parties have become ‘catch-all’ parties or are in some kind of post ‘catch-all’ phase. The paper concludes that unlike the ‘catch-all’ approach ‘ideology’ is still of major significance for the party elites. If we explore the data, however, we find that the ideology itself looks conservative rather than liberal and the conservatism is social rather than economic. Hence the emphasis which the coalition's parliamentary leadership placed on economics rather than social policy and on individualism rather than conservatism would imply a lack of ‘fit’ between the parliamentary and the organisational wings of the coalition parties
Conservatism · Context (archaeology · Economics · Epistemology · Ideology · Individualism · Law and economics · Order (exchange · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Pragmatism · Relevance (law · Sociology · Style (visual arts · Australian History and Society · Commonwealth, Australian Politics and Federalism · Educational Practices and Policies · Law
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |