Party Politics current issue

Office and Policy Payoffs in Coalition Governments

Debus, M. — 2008-08-18

According to theories on coalition formation, parties with a key position in the coalition game receive higher office and policy payoffs than their coalition partners. In this article, I use two models of government-formation — the portfolio allocation model and the political heart model — to identify key players in the coalition game. Both models are modified to incorporate institutional and political constraints on coalition-formation, and the predictions of key parties from the four models are compared with the governments that actually formed in five European countries: Austria (1983—2002), Belgium (1985—2003), Germany (1980— 2005), Ireland (1982—2002) and The Netherlands (1977—2003). I argue that the modified models are preferred to the original ones on both theoretical and empirical grounds. Using the key parties identified by the modified models, I find that if a coalition member is a key party, then it is able to assert its policy views more effectively than its coalition partners can, but, contrary to expectations in the literature, that it is unable to capture a surpassing share of cabinet offices.

The Power of Sex and Incumbency: A Longitudinal Study of Electoral Performance in France

Murray, R. — 2008-08-18

In France's 2002 legislative elections, parties spectacularly failed to respect the `parity' requirement of an equal number of male and female candidates. Women remained a minority, especially in safe seats, where heavy priority was given to the (usually male) incumbents. Parties defended this practice, claiming that it was better to field incumbents than newcomers, and that fielding a woman might cost them the seat. Although these claims were strongly refuted by feminist organizations, they have been difficult to (dis)prove, as women are often placed in the toughest seats and therefore tend to perform badly in the polls. This article helps resolve the argument with a longitudinal study of electoral performance. By comparing candidates within the same seat over several elections, and controlling for swing, the study separates candidate and seat effects to allow an objective evaluation. The results suggest that it is parties, not the electorate, that are discriminating against women.

Mandates, Parties and Dissent: Effect of Electoral Rules on Parliamentary Party Cohesion in the Russian State Duma, 1994--2003

Kunicova, J., Remington, T. F. — 2008-08-18

Russia's mixed electoral system offers an excellent opportunity to study the effects of electoral rules on party discipline in legislative voting. Under the rules in force from the 1993 to 2003 elections, one half of the Russian Duma's members were elected on party lists, while the remaining half were elected by plurality vote in single-member districts (SMDs). The existing literature has found inconclusive evidence for the direction and magnitude of the effect of such mandate-type differences on the level of party discipline in floor voting. Using a comprehensive database of electronically recorded votes in the Duma in the period between 1994 and 2003 and a panel data structure, we examine the influence of this hybrid system on factional voting cohesion for votes on budget bills. The panel structure permits a more sensitive and rigorous research design than has been employed in previous research. We find modest evidence that SMD representatives defect from the faction position on budget bills more often than proportional representation representatives, even taking into account such intervening factors as party faction, ideology, committee membership and the evolution of the post-communist political system.

`This is What Happens When You Don't Listen': All-Women Shortlists at the 2005 General Election

Cutts, D., Childs, S., Fieldhouse, E. — 2008-08-18

Labour's All-Women Shortlists (AWS), an example of an equality guarantee, have proved they can deliver. Labour's 98 women constitute 77 percent of all the women MPs in the House of Commons and 27.5 percent of the Parliamentary Labour Party. Moreover, half of all Labour's women MPs currently sitting in the House of Commons were selected on AWS, either in 1997 or 2005. Yet, rather than the success of AWS being a key story of the 2005 general election, it was the defeat of the AWS candidate, Maggie Jones, in the ultra-safe Labour seat of Blaenau Gwent that dominated media coverage. `This is what happens when you don't listen' said the successful, ex-Labour candidate, the late Peter Law: AWS lose votes. This article shows, however, that, Blaenau Gwent aside, there was no significant anti-AWS effect at the 2005 general election. AWS candidates largely suffered from being new candidates. Also, even though we cannot differentiate between an AWS effect and a differential sex effect for new and incumbent candidates, we find that neither is significant.

Democratic Norms and Party Candidate Selection: Taking Contextual Factors into Account

Cross, W. — 2008-08-18

This article argues that the relative significance of party candidate selection processes in influencing representational and policy outcomes varies across countries and parties. Five variables are identified that influence this relationship: the electoral system, the degree of inter-party general election competition, the openness of the system to the election of independent candidates, whether representational demands are accommodated within or among parties, and the role of elected representatives in determining policy outcomes. From this, a normative argument is made that the strength of the case for democratically organized candidate nomination contests varies depending on the relative importance of these contests in determining policy and representational outcomes.

Candidate Selection Procedures in Transitional Polities: A Research Note

Field, B. N., Siavelis, P. M. — 2008-08-18

This research note summarizes initial research from a wider project on the determinants of candidate selection procedures. It seeks to contribute to the growing literature on candidate selection by distinguishing transitional and institutionalized democracies. First, it provides a review of the existing literature, with particular emphasis placed on identifying the existing hypotheses on the determinants of candidate selection procedures. Second, it elucidates why transitional polities differently constrain the choice of legislative candidate selection procedures compared to institutionalized democracies. Third, several hypotheses derived from the literature indicate that the barriers to adopting inclusive legislative candidate selection procedures are higher in transitional than in institutionalized democracies.

Book Review: Michael D. McDonald and Ian Budge, Elections, Parties, Democracy: Conferring the Median Mandate. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. {pound}47.00 (hbk), xiv + 257pp. ISBN 0 19 9286728

Blau, A. — 2008-08-18

Book Review: Marc J. Hetherington, Why Trust Matters: Declining Political Trust and the Demise of American Liberalism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2005 (2nd pbk printing 2007). 176 pp. + xvii. ISBN 0 691 11776 4 (pbk)

Anderson, C. J. — 2008-08-18

Book Review: John Bartle and Anthony King (eds), Britain at the Polls 2005. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press, 2006. {pound}14.99 (pbk), vii + 232 pp. ISBN 1 933116 63 3. Dennis Kavanagh and David Butler, The British General Election of 2005. Houndmills: Palgrave, 2005. {pound}18.99 (pbk), xii + 275 pp. ISBN 1 4039 4426 9. Pippa Norris and Christopher Wlezien (eds), Britain Votes 2005. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. vi + 241 pp. (pbk). ISBN 0 19 856940 8

Wolf, T. P. — 2008-08-18

Book Review: Peter Burnell (ed.), Globalising Democracy: Party Politics in Emerging Democracies. Abingdon: Routledge, 2006. {pound}19.99 (pbk), xii + 226pp. ISBN 0 415 40183 6. Thomas Carothers, Confronting the Weakest Link: Aiding Political Parties in New Democracies. Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2006. $22.95 (pbk), xiii + 272pp. ISBN 0 87003 225 7

Lewis, P. G. — 2008-08-18

Book Review: Susanne Jungerstam-Mulders (ed.), Post-Communist EU Member States: Parties and Party Systems. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2006. {pound}50.00 (hbk), xiv + 258pp. ISBN 0 7546 4712 9

Henderson, K. — 2008-08-18

Book Review: Fiona Macaulay, Gender Politics in Brazil and Chile: The Role of Parties in National and Local Policymaking. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. {pound}50.00 (hbk), xvi + 231 pp. ISBN 0 333 736 141; 0333736141

Thomas, G. — 2008-08-18

Book Review: Larry Diamond and Marc F. Plattner (eds), Electoral Systems and Democracy. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006. $18.95 (pbk). ISBN 0 8018 8475 6

van der Kolk, H. — 2008-08-18