This volume casts a new light on electoral developments that have affected Western Europe in recent years, pointing to the key distinction between problem solvers and conflict mobilizers.

Lorenzo De Sio is Full Professor of Political Science at LUISS University, Rome, Italy. He is the Director of the CISE (Italian Centre for Electoral Studies); and the principal investigator of the ICCP (Issue Competition Comparative Project). His current research interests focus on issue dynamics in voting behaviour and party competition.

Romain Lachat is Associate Professor of Political Behaviour at CEVIPOF, the Centre for Political Research, Sciences Po, Paris, France. His research focuses on the comparative analysis of electoral behaviour and on political representation. He is particularly interested in the impact of political institutions and party characteristics on individual-level behaviour.

Introduction 1. Research design: from issues to goals 2. The 2017 Dutch general election: how small parties campaigned more strategically 3. Campaigning in an unprecedented election: issue competition in the French 2017 presidential election 4. The United Kingdom 2017 election: polarisation in a split issue space 5. It's no longer the economy, stupid! Issue yield at the 2017 German federal election 6. Parties' issue strategies on the drawing board: the 2017 Austrian case 7. The 2018 Italian general election: party strategies in a changing political space 8. Ideology, problem-solving, and conflict mobilization 9. The proof of the pudding: issue yield at the ballot box