Political Parties and Democratic Linkage examines how political parties ensure the functioning of the democratic process in contemporary societies. Based on unprecedented cross-national data, the authors find that the process of party government is still alive and well in most contemporary democracies. Political Parties and Democratic Linkage offers a valiant defence of the often lamented role of parties in contemporary democratic processes. Dalton, Farrell and McAllister argue that despite their poor public image, parties still dominate elections, that newly incumbent governments are more closely connected to citizen preferences than their predecessors in office, and that voter opinion, operating through parties, matters for policy outputs. This is an important book for students of parties as well as for students of democracy.