[Recenzija]

The troops of discourse, the routes of power, the machineries of political mechanisms… The complexity of contemporary societies and political structures is hard to grasp. In the postmodern world, there is no single underlying principle, there is no such thing as a single order, to paraphrase H. Gottweis (2003) - “the nightmare of modernity.” Party Competition Between Unequals by Bonnie M. Meguid offers an unconventional gaze to contemporary politics. While many authors refer, within the postmodern condition, to the puzzling lack of sureness, unrest and unease, discourse coalitions, nodal points and the bridges of meaning, Bonnie M. Meguid still works with the classic old vocabulary, and draws surprisingly clear picture of reality. The central focus is on the niche parties – the agents of change who challenge the “archetypal” political scheme of left and right, and bring new issues to the scene. It unveils the trajectories of the niche parties - how they enter political scene, how they act there and finally - how they leave. They “reject the traditional class-based orientation” (p. 3) and go beyond economic demands, they are single issues parties, and their claims hardly fit into current political divisions of left and right. These are extraterritorial, green, women’s, peace and radical right parties.[.]