Comparative Politics is a series for researchers, teachers, and students of political science that deals with contemporary government and politics. Global in scope, books in the series are characterized by a stress on comparative analysis and strong methodological rigour. The series is published in association with the European Consortium for Political Research. For more information visit: ecprnet.eu The series is edited by Susan scarrow, John and Rebecca Moores, Professor of Political Science at the University of Houston, and Jonathan Slapin, Professor of Political Institutions and European Politics, Department of Political Science, University of Zurich. Democracy thrives on vigorous competition between political parties. Yet in a few established democracies, one party manages to dominate national politics for decades at a time, seemingly creating a democratic one-party unnatural democracy. This book examines five such countries-Canada, Ireland, India, Japan, and Italy-to understand what kind of party comes to dominate democratic competition, and how and why they do so. Although these are different countries with different political challenges, an analysis of their "Government Parties" reveals their common relationship with the origins and operations of the states they dominate and the nation-and/or state-building challenges they face. However, democratic dominance is not forever. How a government party responds to seemingly inevitable long-term support decline defines the prospects for its unnatural democracy.