British Elections and Parties Review: Volume 13 - Brief Article - Book Review

Contemporary Review, Dec, 2003

British Elections and Parties Review: Volume 13. Colin Rallings, Roger Scully, Jonathan Tonge and Paul Webb, editors. Frank Cass. [pounds sterling]47.50. 312 pages. ISBN 0-7146-5526-0. The latest number in this prestigious series divides its fourteen contributions into four groups. The first, 'Elections in Europe in 2002', looks at the general elections in France, Ireland and the Netherlands.

The second, 'Devolution', has five papers examining devolution in Scotland, Wales and England. The final contribution, on Scotland's parties after devolution, is particularly useful. The third section, on the important question of 'turnout', has four essays which examine various aspects of voter turnout at elections including the question of age, constituency marginality, the EU elections and the relationship between parties and turnout as seen in the 1999 EU elections. The final section on the UK's 2001 general election has two essays: the first is an extremely useful analysis of the role of 'the leader' in British elections whilst the second looks at the effects of canvassing and campaigning and concludes that local campaigning does work. This collection more than meets the high standards set by the series' earlier numbers. (A.B.)