Farewell to the Party Model? : VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften : 9783531156873 : 353115687X : 11 Apr 2008 : Marion Reiser, Everhard Holtmann Local independent lists as political actors are a common phenomenon on the local level in many European countries ? in established Western democracies as well as in the ?new' democracies in Central and Eastern Europe. In some West European countries, these non-partisan groups have been an established and stable element in the local political system for decades. Ty- cally, they understand themselves as protectors of a harmonious factual political style. In their opinion, good local politics is not compatible with party politics so they consequently perceive themselves as non-parties. During the last two d- ades, presence and success of local lists have steadily increased in these co- tries. Furthermore, during the last years local lists emerged also in countries which had been formerly fully party-politicised on the local level. Explanations off