Post-Imperial Democracies: Ideology and Party Formation in Third Republic France, Weimar Germany, and Post-Soviet Russia

309 Pages·2010·1.577 MB·English

by  Stephen E. Hanson

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Post-ImperialDemocracies
IdeologyandPartyFormationinThirdRepublicFrance,
WeimarGermany,andPost-SovietRussia
Thisbookexaminesthecausalimpactofideologythroughacomparative-
historical analysis ofthree cases of“post-imperial democracy”:the early
ThirdRepublicinFrance(1870–1886),theWeimarRepublicinGermany
(1918–1934), and post-Soviet Russia (1992–2008). Stephen E. Hanson
argues that political ideologies are typically necessary for the mobiliza-
tion of enduring, independent national party organizations in uncertain
democracies. Clear and consistent ideologies can artificially elongate the
temporalhorizonsoftheiradherents.Bypresentinganexplicitanddesir-
ablepictureofthepoliticalfuture,successfulideologuesinduceindividuals
toembracealong-runstrategyofcooperationwithotherconverts.When
enoughnewconvertscooperateinthisway,itenablessustainedcollective
actiontodefendandextendpartypower.Successfulpartyideologiesthus
have the character of self-fulfilling prophecies: by portraying the future
polityasoneorganizedtoservetheinterestsofthoseloyaltospecificide-
ologicalprinciples,they helpto bring political organizationscenteredon
theseprinciplesintobeing.
StephenE.HansonistheViceProvostforGlobalAffairsandtheHerbertJ.
EllisonProfessorintheDepartmentofPoliticalScienceattheUniversityof
Washington.HansonistheauthorofTimeandRevolution:Marxismand
theDesignofSovietInstitutions(1997),whichreceivedthe1998Wayne
S.VucinichbookawardfromtheAmericanAssociationfortheAdvance-
ment of Slavic Studies. His more recent publications include Postcom-
munism and the Theory of Democracy (2001, with Richard Anderson
Jr., M. Steven Fish, and Philip Roeder) and articles in journals includ-
ingComparativePoliticalStudies,ComparativePolitics,Communistand
Post-Communist Studies, andEast European Politics and Societies. He
alsoservedasAssistantGeneralEditoroftheCambridgeStudiesinCom-
parativePoliticsseriesuntil2008.

Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics
GeneralEditor
MargaretLeviUniversityofWashington,Seattle
AssistantGeneralEditors
KathleenThelenMassachusettsInstituteofTechnology
ErikWibbelsDukeUniversity
AssociateEditors
RobertH.BatesHarvardUniversity
StephenE.HansonUniversityofWashington,Seattle
TorbenIversenHarvardUniversity
StathisKalyvasYaleUniversity
PeterLangeDukeUniversity
HelenMilnerPrincetonUniversity
FrancesRosenbluthYaleUniversity
SusanStokesYaleUniversity
OtherBooksintheSeries
DavidAusten-Smith,JeffryA.Frieden,MiriamA.Golden,KarlOveMoene,
andAdamPrzeworski,eds.,SelectedWorksofMichaelWallerstein:The
PoliticalEconomyofInequality,Unions,andSocialDemocracy
AndyBaker,TheMarketandtheMassesinLatinAmerica:PolicyReform
andConsumptioninLiberalizingEconomies
LisaBaldez,WhyWomenProtest:Women’sMovementsinChile
StefanoBartolini,ThePoliticalMobilizationoftheEuropeanLeft,
1860–1980:TheClassCleavage
RobertBates,WhenThingsFellApart:StateFailureinLate-CenturyAfrica
MarkBeissinger,NationalistMobilizationandtheCollapseoftheSovietState
NancyBermeo,ed.,UnemploymentintheNewEurope
CarlesBoix,DemocracyandRedistribution
CarlesBoix,PoliticalParties,Growth,andEquality:ConservativeandSocial
DemocraticEconomicStrategiesintheWorldEconomy
CatherineBoone,MerchantCapitalandtheRootsofStatePowerinSenegal,
1930–1985
CatherineBoone,PoliticalTopographiesoftheAfricanState:Territorial
AuthorityandInstitutionalChange
ContinuedaftertheIndex

Post-Imperial Democracies
Ideology and Party Formation in Third Republic
France, Weimar Germany, and Post-Soviet Russia
STEPHEN E. HANSON
UniversityofWashington,Seattle
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
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Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
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Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521883511
© Stephen E. Hanson 2010
This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the
provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part
may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published in print format 2010
ISBN-13 978-0-511-90033-4 eBook (EBL)
ISBN-13 978-0-521-88351-1 Hardback
ISBN-13 978-0-521-70985-9 Paperback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy
of urls for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication,
and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain,
accurate or appropriate.
Contents
Acknowledgments pageix
Preface xiii
part one: conceptual and theoretical issues
1 WeberianMethodologicalIndividualism 3
2 AWeberianTheoryofIdeology 29
3 IdeologyandPartyFormation 57
part two: case studies
4 TheFoundingoftheFrenchThirdRepublic 87
5 TheRiseandFalloftheWeimarRepublic 123
6 Post-SovietRussia 175
7 Conclusion:BringingIdeologyBackIn 237
Index 255
vii