Review by Choice Review
Caramani (University of Mannheim, Germany) presents an exhaustive study of the processes by which electorates in Western European countries became increasingly nationalized in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. A nationalized electorate is one in which the same parties run in most or all constituencies in a given country and each party receives a similar degree of support across those constituencies. Through an examination of election results in 17 countries, the book traces how the 19th-century competition between liberals and conservatives drove this homogenizing process, which was largely achieved before the introduction of full voting rights and the advent of large working-class parties. The book also identifies the degree to which ethnolinguistic and religious diversity inhibited the process in certain countries and assesses the historical factors contributing to the survival of these types of divisions. There are few surprises in the author's findings: the book's principal contribution is in the careful documenting of the story. The detail involved in this exercise can seem daunting at times, however, and the mode of expression would have benefited from a stronger editorial hand. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. Graduate and research collections. P. V. Warwick Simon Fraser University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
