Party Politics recent issues

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

Centre--Right Parties and Political Outcomes in East Central Europe

Vachudova, M. A. — 2008-05-30

The emergence of moderate centre—right parties in East Central Europe after 1989 was closely related to the strength and nature of organized opposition during the late communist period. Where such opposition was strong enough to take power, it went on to become the ideological, organizational and elite base for one or more moderate right parties. Where it was weak, moderate right parties were eclipsed by what I call `independence right' and `communist nationalist' parties that dominated the party system using nationalism and other forms of right-wing discourse. Identifying what kind of party dominates this discourse helps explain the very different political outcomes that followed regime change in 1989, including the different structures of party competition and the diverging quality of democracy. Over time, however, political change and the exigencies of qualifying for European Union (EU) membership empowered the centre—right, prompting most `independence right' and `communist nationalist' parties to become mainstream left-wing or right-wing parties. But the EU is now playing another role in party politics in the region, as those conservative centre—right parties that vow to protect the country from integration have become somewhat more powerful compared to their liberal counterparts.

Sticking Together: Explaining Comparative Centre--Right Party Success in Post-Communist Central and Eastern Europe

Hanley, S., Szczerbiak, A., Haughton, T., Fowler, B. — 2008-05-30

In this article, we attempt to explain varying patterns of centre—right success between 1990 and 2006 in three post-communist states — Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic. Success is understood as the ability to construct broad and durable parties. Both macro-institutional explanations, focusing on executive structures and electoral systems, and historical—structural explanations, stressing communist regime legacies, have limited power to explain the observed variance. The introduction of a more sophisticated framework of path dependence, stressing the role of choices and political crafting at critical junctures, adds some insight, but the lack of strong `lock-in' mechanisms required by such approaches makes such a model unconvincing when applied to Central and Eastern European centre—right party development. Other explanations that stress the importance of elite characteristics and capacity are needed to supplement the shortcomings of these approaches, in particular: (a) the presence of cohesive elites able to act as the nucleus of new centre—right formations; and (b) the ability of such elites to craft broad integrative ideological narratives that can transcend diverse ideological positions and unite broad swathes of centre—right activists and voters.

From the Politics of State-Building To Programmatic Politics: The Post-Federal Experience and the Development of Centre--Right Party Politics in Croatia and Slovakia

Haughton, T., Fisher, S. — 2008-05-30

The post-federal experience was important in shaping the structure of party competition in Central and Eastern Europe in the 1990s, particularly on the centre—right. The cases of Slovakia and Croatia demonstrate not only how and why appeals relating to national autonomy/statehood became salient in some states in the region, but also why dominant parties stressing such themes were unable to lock in their support. Strategic crafting, particularly in the absence of consensus over continuation of the federation, appears key in explaining the rise of dominant parties in the two cases. Nonetheless, where appeals to the nation were combined with illiberalism and were received unfavourably by strategically important international clubs, public support for such parties declined. Following removal from power, these dominant parties undertook bouts of reinvention, attempting to rebrand themselves as mainstream European centre—right parties with mixed results.

Searching for the Right Organization: Ideology and Party Structure in East-Central Europe

Enyedi, Z., Linek, L. — 2008-05-30

The article examines four centre—right parties in East-Central Europe in order to assess the impact of ideology on party organization and revisit the thesis of organizational weakness in the region. The data collected indicate that, together with electoral success, inherited resources and national context, ideology does indeed shape the style of organization. Centre—right parties, as opposed to leftist parties, tend to be less bureaucratized, have fewer staff members, a simpler structure, more individualized leadership and the `party-in-public-office' tends also to have a more elevated role. Parties that have more individualistic ideologies tends also to have `lighter' organization and weaker embeddedness, while parties subscribing to a more collectivist and corporatist type of conservatism have developed more complex party organization and rely more heavily on affiliate organizations. Analysis of temporal changes uncovers a degree of organizational vitality that is surprising given that the literature on both centre—right and on post-communist politics points towards organizational weakness.

Why Is There No Christian Democracy in Poland -- and Why Should We Care?

Bale, T., Szczerbiak, A. — 2008-05-30

Despite the fact that almost all Poles are Roman Catholics and that religion has played an important part in contemporary Polish politics, no self-declared Christian Democratic party has been successful in post-1989 Poland. None of the currently successful Polish centre—right parties profile themselves as Christian Democratic, nor can they be labelled as such objectively. While, superficially, Poland looks like fertile ground for Christian Democracy, the factors that were crucial to the formation and success of Christian Democratic parties in post-war Western Europe were largely absent during the emergence of democratic, multiparty politics in post-1989 Poland. Of course, parties are never simply produced and sustained by `cleavages', they are more than institutional responses to some kind of social demand. The formation and success, or otherwise, of Christian Democratic parties owes much to the interplay between social realities and sponsors, on the one hand, and the institutional and ideological crafting of entrepreneurial politicians, on the other.

Book Review: Paul G. Lewis and Zdenka Mansfeldova (eds), The European Union and Party Politics in Central and Eastern Europe. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006. {pound}55.00 hbk, xvi + 260 pp. ISBN 0 230 001813 1

Szczerbiak, A. — 2008-05-30

Book Review: David B. Magleby, J. Quin Monson and Kelly D. Patterson (eds), Dancing Without Partners: How Candidates, Parties, and Interest Groups Interact in the Presidential Campaign. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield, 2007. $70.00 (cloth), $28.95 (pbk), 202 pp. ISBN 0 7425 5350 7

Bigelow, N., Trantham, A. — 2008-05-30

Book Review: Donna Lee Van Cott, From Movements to Parties in Latin America: The Evolution of Ethnic Politics. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005. ISBN 978 0 521 85502 0

Philip, G. — 2008-05-30

Book Review: Bob Watt, UK Election Law: A Critical Examination. London: Glasshouses Press, 2005. xviii + 245 pp. ISBN 10:1 89541 916-X

Johnston, R. — 2008-05-30

Book Review: Terri E. Givens, Voting Radical Right in Western Europe. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005. 178 pp. ISBN 978 0 521 85134 3 (hbk)

Fennema, M. — 2008-05-30

The Christian Democratic Phoenix and Modern Unsecular Politics

van Kersbergen, K. — 2008-04-15

Christian democracy is still posing theoretical problems of definition and empirical puzzles of classification and interpretation. Analyses based on secularization theory produce puzzles and anomalies and have little to offer as explanations for the variation in Christian democratic power mobilization. Empirically, this article focuses on Christian democracy in The Netherlands and offers an explanation of the party's decline in the 1990s and its remarkable recovery. From this, lessons are drawn for further theory-building on party and party system change, and on Christian democracy. It seems that modern Christian democratic politics is evolving as neither religious nor secular, but as a version of unsecular politics.

Parties and Leader Effects: Impact of Leaders in the Vote for Different Types of Parties

Costa Lobo, M. — 2008-04-15

In this article, I analyse whether the electorate of different party types attributes different degrees of importance to leaders, as suggested by a recent party typology. Based on expert advice, 15 parties in six democracies were assigned to the following party types: class-mass, denominational and catch-all. Individual level data are used to determine the relative importance of leader effects for voters of different types of party vis-à-vis other explanatory factors. The article shows that there are indeed statistically significant differences in the importance of leader effects concerning mass-based parties (class-mass and denominational) and catch-all parties. Electors of mass-based parties are less sensitive to leaders than electors of catch-all parties at the ballot box. This is in accordance with previous studies in the party literature regarding the emphasis placed by different parties on the leader during election campaigns, and is an introduction to the nature of the party as a contextual factor of voting behaviour.

Factions, Parties and the Durability of Parliaments, Coalitions and Cabinets: The Case of Thailand (1979--2001)

Chambers, P. — 2008-04-15

Did Thailand's multiple parties and factions influence cabinet and coalition durability in the period 1979 to 2001? If so, which one — parties or factions — was the more significant? Taking a Transaction Costs Analysis approach, this article addresses these questions and argues that intra-party factions, as the building blocks of Thai parliamentary politics, have been more important than parties, such that each additional faction in a cabinet triggers a reduction in the longevity of prime ministerial terms and cabinets while affecting the durability of coalitions. Furthermore, while factions tend to shorten parliamentary and cabinet terms, they have the opposite effect on coalition terms. The study suggests that where parties are less cohesive, informal institutions within parties are of considerable importance.

The Political Representation of Ethnic Minorities: Denmark as a Deviant Case

Togeby, L. — 2008-04-15

In general, ethnic minorities are strongly under-represented in representative bodies; however, there is no rule without exceptions. In the municipal elections in Denmark in 2001, the number of ethnic minorities who won election to the local councils throughout the country almost corresponded to their percentage in the general population. The explanation for this can be found in the Danish local election system, with its combination of proportional representation and preferential voting. This system is exceptionally conducive to collective mobilization, which results in a relatively high voter turnout among ethnic minorities and a fair representation in local councils. Since 1981, foreign citizens with permanent residence in Denmark have had the right to vote in local elections. This article describes the development in the representation of ethnic minorities since that time based on a study of all the municipalities in Denmark.

Factors Influencing the Decision of the Young Politically Engaged To Join a Political Party: An Investigation of the Canadian Case

Cross, W., Young, L. — 2008-04-15

Situated in the literature concerning the decline of party members, and the dearth of young party members, this article considers the factors that influence the decision of a politically engaged young person to join, or not join, a political party. Making use of a unique dataset, we examine the attitudes and socialization of a large group of politically active young Canadians, a group that includes a significant number of both party members and non-party members. The article finds significant attitudinal differences towards political parties, with non-members highly suspicious of parties in terms of their general democratic performance, their efficacy in achieving social and political change and in the ability of grassroots members to influence party decision-making. We also find important socialization effects, the most significant being that young party members are considerably more likely than non-members to have a parent who is a party member. Recruitment through family members appears to be a principal path to party membership for young voters.

Book Review: Aleks Szczerbiak and Sean Hanley, eds, Centre--Right Parties in Post-Communist East-Central Europe. London and New York: Routledge, 2006. {pound}65 (hbk), vi + 155 pp. ISBN 0 415 34781 5

Ucen, P. — 2008-04-15

Book Review: Thomas E. Mann and Bruce E. Cain, eds, Party Lines; Competition, Partisanship, and Congressional Redistricting. Washington DC: Brookings Institution Press, 2005. $46.95 (hbk), $18.95 (pbk), viii + 125 pp. ISBN 0 8157 5468-X (hbk); 0 8157 5467--1 (pbk)

Engstrom, R. L. — 2008-04-15

Book Review: Dan Hough and Charlie Jeffery, eds, Devolution and Electoral Politics. Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 2006. {pound}55.00 (hbk), xiiii + 280 pp. ISBN 0 7190 7330 8

Koss, M. — 2008-04-15

Book Review: Ethan Scheiner, Democracy without Competition in Japan, Opposition Failure in a One-Party Dominant State. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006. {pound}40.00 (hbk); {pound}15.99 (pbk), xvii + 260 pp. ISBN 0 5218 4692 7 (hbk); 0 5216 0969 0 (pbk)

Christensen, R. — 2008-04-15

Book Review: Lynne Bennie, Understanding Political Participation: Green Party Membership in Scotland. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2004. {pound}52.50, xi + 240 pp. + index. ISBN 0 7546 1723 8

Rootes, C. — 2008-04-15

The Parameters of Party Systems

Bardi, L., Mair, P. — 2008-02-04

Despite the scepticism that increasingly surrounds their role and standing in contemporary democracies, scholarly interest in political parties continues unabated. But this interest is also proving uneven, with relatively little attention now being given to the study of party systems. More specifically, the level of theoretical interest in party systems remains limited, with almost no substantial innovations being made since the publication of Sartori's classic work of 1976. In this article, we seek to redress some of this neglect by identifying the relevant parameters that can be used in the definition of party systems and, possibly, in the explanation of party system change. We then go on to look at the minimum defining characteristics of a system of parties (as opposed to a set of parties) before finally arguing that party systems are best understood as multidimensional phenomena in which we identify and discuss the implications of three types of division — vertical, horizontal and functional.

The Effective Number of Parties At Four Scales: Votes, Seats, Legislative Power and Cabinet Power

Blau, A. — 2008-02-04

Different scholars count `the number of parties' in different ways, partly because they examine different parts of the political process and for different reasons. Sartori's qualitative approach focused mainly on competition for government, but is now largely supplanted by the quantitative `effective number of parties' index, which deals with votes and seats. But some quantitative research requires us to look beyond votes and seats. For example, testing proportional and pluralitarian models of democracy requires us to count parties not just in terms of votes and seats but also in terms of legislative and cabinet power. I estimate party shares of legislative and cabinet power to test democratic norms at British and German elections and parliaments. So, the effective number of parties index needs to be, and can be, extended beyond votes and seats alone.

Party Polarization and Citizens' Left--Right Orientations

Freire, A. — 2008-02-04

The article investigates the differences among West European countries in terms of the degree to which individuals' left—right self-placement is anchored in social, value and partisan factors. The study shows that clarity of party alternatives is much more important than political socialization in structuring citizens' left—right attitudes, i.e. the greater the clarity of party alternatives, the more structured the left—right orientations of citizens. As a first step in the investigation, the article seeks to show that the relative weights of social factors in explaining individual left—right self-placement, vis-à-vis values and partisan loyalties, are important, contrary to the poor results of previous studies.

Recognition Rules, Party Labels and the Number of Parties in India: A Research Note

Nikolenyi, C. — 2008-02-04

This Research Note offers an alternative explanation for the variation over time in the number of parties in India's national party system. It is argued that the actual number of parties has changed in direct response to the incentives provided by the official rules and regulations on party recognition. In turn, the raw number of parties has shaped the effective number of parties positively: the more parties enter the electoral race the weaker the reductive impact of the plurality electoral system, which leads to an increase in the effective number of parties.

Online Electoral Competition in Different Settings: A Comparative Meta-Analysis of the Research on Party Websites and Online Electoral Competition

Strandberg, K. — 2008-02-04

This article takes a close look at two important theories concerning the effects that online party campaigning has on party competition. The equalization and normalization theories are tested for systematic logical dependence on conditions present in existing studies within the research field. The conditions are country-specific contextual settings and studyspecific methodology. The method of qualitative comparative analysis is used, such that variable based reasoning can be applied in the low n case study. The main result of the analysis is that findings of normalization are mostly dependent on offline conditions — electoral settings in particular — being favourable to major parties. Concerning findings of equalization, an online media environment favourable to minor parties, compared to the offline environment proved important. Through a meta-analytical approach, the article brings important information to light on how scholarly interpretations of the two theories have been constructed.

Book Review: Elisabeth Carter, The Extreme Right in Western Europe: Success or Failure? Manchester: Manchester University Press and New York: Palgrave, 2005. {pound}55.00, xiv + 271 pp. ISBN 0 7190 7048 1

van Spanje, J. — 2008-02-04

Book Review: Susan J. Carroll and Richard L. Fox, Gender and Elections: Shaping the Future of American Politics. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006. {pound}40.00/US$65.00 (hbk); {pound}16.99/US$22.99 (pbk), xv + 223 pp. ISBN 0 521 844 924; 0 521 606 705

Schwindt-Bayer, L. A. — 2008-02-04

Book Review: Brian C. Rathbun, Partisan Interventions: European Party Politics and Peace Enforcement in the Balkans. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press, 2004. {pound}22.95 (hbk), xi + 228 pp. ISBN 0 8014 4255 9

Adamson, K. — 2008-02-04

Book Review: David M. Farrell and Ian McAllister, The Australian Electoral System: Origins, Variations and Consequences. Sydney: UNSW Press, 2005. AUD$49.95 (pbk), ix + 215 pp. ISBN 0 86840 858 1

Sawer, M. — 2008-02-04

Book Review: Andrew Russell and Edward Fieldhouse, Neither Left Nor Right? The Liberal Democrats and the Electorate. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2005. {pound}50.00 (hbk); {pound}14.99 (pbk), 256 pp. ISBN 0 7190 6600 X (hbk); 0 7190 6601 8 (pbk)

Hale, S. — 2008-02-04