This book is a major analysis of the role of political parties in the development and promotion of democracy. Alan Ware offers a discussion of an area of political life which has remained underexamined - the impact of parties on democratic life. Ware’s work combines a comparative study of parties with a comprehensive discussion of democratic theory. He examines the role of parties in one-party political systems, focussing on the issue of whether there can be democracy in one-party systems. These party systems are then contrasted with those found in representative democracies. Ware offers a detailed analysis of the development, evolution and structure of political parties in the West, exploring such issues as the nature of voter-choice in two-party and multi-party systems, and who exactly controls the political system - the voter or the parties, the political elite or the grass-roots activists? Finally, Ware looks at the internal operations of political parties and the fate of attempts to democratize them. He draws extensive conclusions about the proper place of parties and party systems in democratic theory. This book will be of interest to academics and students in political science, government, current affairs and international relations. Politicians and party activists.