Introduction: Studying the Relationship Between Parties and Democracy

In the current world, there are many empirical challenges to both parties and democracy. A long-term simplistic view of the party–democracy relationship helps neither in understanding the current challenges nor in the context-sensitive analysis of parties and party systems and their relationship with democracy. This book critically assesses early liberal political thought and the trends in political thought since the 1970s. The main thesis, the research questions and the methodological approach are presented using several puzzles from the real world and from political science on the relationship between parties, party systems and democracy, and the novel ideas of the book are explained.