Building Blocs: How Parties Organize Society

Going against the prevailing notion that political parties mirror divisions in society, Building Blocs argues that some parties actively structure those divisions. Using international case studies and Gramscian social theory, this volume demonstrates that political articulation is not the work of ambitious politicians or of the state, but primarily of parties. With one foot in society they also control the system of nominations, appointments, and elections-and as a consequence, the resources of state power.