Publication: Introduction to the Sociology of Political Parties – Alexandre Dézé

Publication of Alexandre Dézé's book, Fin de parti: Enquête sur un présumé déclin (End of the Party: Investigation into a Presumed Decline), 1st edition, September 2025, 304 pages – ISBN 9782724644708

Summary:

The book reveals the many flaws in the science of political parties as it has been constructed, a science with little concern for epistemology, steeped in normative preconceptions, and obsessed with producing typologies. In this way, it partially overturns what we thought we knew about political parties.

Political parties are in crisis, in decline, on the verge of extinction... This assertion is hammered home, whether in the media, politics, or academia. Yet, one need only observe everyday political life, in France as elsewhere, to see that partisan organizations continue to be central players. So where does the theory of the decline of political parties come from, how has it become established in research, and what is its value?

To determine this, Alexandre Dézé offers a wide-ranging exploration of the literature on political parties and invites us to consider how dominant knowledge is constructed. After tracing the origins of the decline thesis, he demonstrates all its conceptual and empirical weaknesses and questions the conditions that made its spread in the academic world possible.

The book reveals, in particular, the many flaws in the science of political parties as it has been constructed, a science with little concern for epistemology, steeped in normative preconceptions, and obsessed with producing typologies. Thus, this book partly overturns what we thought we knew about political parties.

Publisher's website: https://www.pressesdesciencespo.fr/fr/book/?GCOI=27246100747400#h2tabDetails