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This paper examines the discourse and strategies of extreme right parties in four European democracies; France, the UK, Germany and Romania. Using text analysis of party manifestoes, we disctinguish four sub-types of extreme right parties. We show that the extreme right party family can be classified into four distinct types based on the insight into the fundamental ideological core and the style of discourse it espouses. We explore the implications this typology has on party competition and the likely electoral success of the party within its given party system. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the decline in support for major political parties in Western Europe, specifically, France, the UK, and German, this paper investigates the relationship between citizens, political parties, and the European Union. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the impact of elite alliances on the activity choices of environmental groups in the United Kingdom, France and Germany. Relying on a multi-dimensional framework for analyzing social movements with a focus on political opportunity structures, several aspects of elite alliances are analyzed. Results indicate that groups shift tactics in relation to changes in elite alliance structures at the nation state. The degree of green party support, the nature of the party in power and its platform as well as cabinet strength were found to influence activity choices. In addition, it was found that groups often behave counter-intuitively, punishing those allies with whom one would expect they share a common purpose. ..PAT.-Conference Proceeding [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the choice to engage in coordinated activity and the degree to which the gendered nature of political institutions has an impact on the mobilization strategies of women's groups. In so doing, we explore whether or not the opportunity structure is 'gendered,' producing different outcomes for women's groups than for other social groups. Since we know that coordinated activity can be advantageous for the achievement of group goals, any differences for women's groups are significant. In addition, this study asks if women's groups coordinate activities to advance strategic interests, those that are vested in long-term transformations of gender relations and hierarchies and are concerned with changing the underlying inequities in the prevailing institutional arrangement, or to advance practical interests, those that "do not themselves challenge the prevailing forms of gender subordination…" (Molyneux 1995, 284). This study also asks if the choice to engage in coordinated activities is mediated by issue focus or 'type' of group. Both domestic and transnational/supranational acts of coordination are examined and results focus on the necessity of a feminized interpretation of the POS. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]