Party Democracies in Europe Under Threat?

This paper focuses on new competitive dynamics in European party democracies. Based on theoretical thoughts on party competition it addresses the transformation and the sustainability of European party democracies, both at the level of voters and party organisations and at the level of party systems and party competition. It focuses on growing deficiences in representation of the established parties in the eyes of many voters and tries to analyse the consequences for party systems and party competition. One result is the rise of dealignment from the traditional party families of the liberal, conservative, Christian democratic and in particular social democratic parties. Reasons for processes of fragmentation and polarisation and the increased rise of populist parties with its implication for government building will be analysed. These substantial changes on structures of competition between parties and on competition for government through the decline of traditional parties on one side and strengthening of populist parties on the other might lead to erosions of the classical model of party democracy in Europe.