Lori Thorlakson publishes new book on impact of institutional design on party organization and voting behaviour in Austria

Dr. Lori Thorlakson, Wirth Academic Advisory Board Member and professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Alberta, has recently published a new book examining the impact of institutional design on party organization and voting behaviour in Austria.

Multi-Level Democracy: Integration and Independence Among Party Systems, Parties, and Voters in Seven Federal Systems looks at the impact of institutional design on party organization and voting behaviour in Austria, drawing on survey data of party officials in the Austrian Laender, as well as Land level electoral data. It argues that the fiscal and policy centralization of Austrian federalism structures a style of federal politics in Austria where Land and federal politics are highly interdependent, with integrated parties and linked patterns of electoral competition.