Personalization of Democratic Politics and the Challenge for Political Parties

William P. Cross is Professor and Bell Chair for the Study of Canadian Parliamentary Democracy at Carleton University. He is a student of comparative political institutions and his work emphasizes the internal organization of political parties. His recent (co-authored and co-edited) books include: The Promise and Challenge of Party Primary Elections (McGill-Queen’s 2016), The Politics of Party Leadership (Oxford 2016), Fighting for Votes: Parties, the Media and Voters in an Ontario Election (UBC Press 2015), The Selection of Political Party Leaders in Contemporary Parliamentary Democracies (Routledge 2014), The Challenges of Intra-Party Democracy (Oxford 2013) and Politics at the Centre: the Selection and Removal of Party Leaders in Anglo Parliamentary Democracies (Oxford 2012).

Richard S. Katz is Professor of Political Science at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. He was co-editor of the European Journal of Political Research (2006-2012). His books include A Theory of Parties and Electoral Systems (Johns Hopkins 1980, 2006), Democracy and Elections (Oxford 1997), Handbook of Party Politics, ed. with William Crotty (Sage 2006), The Challenges of Intra-Party Democracy, ed. with William P. Cross, (Oxford 2013). He is vice-chair and treasurer on the Executive Committee of the European Consortium for Political Research.

Scott Pruysers is a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada postdoctoral fellow at the University of Calgary. His current research interests include party organization in multi-level states, intra-party democracy, and political psychology. His research has been published in a variety of national and international journals such as the Canadian Journal of Political Science, Representation, Regional and Federal Studies, and Politics & Gender.