Party Competition between Unequals

Author(s):  
Bonnie M. Meguid
Keyword(s):  
Author(s):  
James F. Adams ◽  
Samuel Merrill III ◽  
Bernard Grofman

Author(s):  
Michael Laver ◽  
Ernest Sergenti

This chapter attempts to develop more realistic and interesting models in which the set of competing parties is a completely endogenous output of the process of party competition. It also seeks to model party competition when different party leaders use different decision rules in the same setting by building on an approach pioneered in a different context by Robert Axelrod. This involves long-running computer “tournaments” that allow investigation of the performance and “robustness” of decision rules in an environment where any politician using any rule may encounter an opponent using either the same decision rule or some quite different rule. The chapter is most interested in how a decision rule performs against anything the competitive environment might throw against it, including agents using decision rules that are difficult to anticipate and/or comprehend.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-60
Author(s):  
Gregor Zons ◽  
Anna Halstenbach

AbstractDespite its right-wing populist character, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) shows no signs of a strong party leadership. We ascribe this state of the party leadership to the AfD’s institutionalization as a new party and show how organizational features interact with the skill set and goals of the party leaders. At the party level, we, firstly, outline the organizational change at the top of the party and the party leader selection rules. Secondly, we depict leadership turnover and competitiveness. At the leader level, we investigate the failure of Bernd Lucke, the key founder and one of the initial party leaders, as a manifestation of the leadership-structure dilemma of new parties. Embedded in a leadership team and faced with a growing extra-parliamentary party structure, Lucke tried to secure his initial autonomy and position of power by an attempt to become the sole party leader. His subsequent exit from the AfD laid bare the fact that he was not able to manage the challenges of the organizational consolidation phase, in which a new party needs a coordinator and consensus-builder. The AfD itself has proven its organizational autonomy from its initial leaders and its distaste for a strong and centralized party leadership. The barriers for the latter remain in place while, at the same time, the party institutionalization is still on-going, especially regarding its place in the German party competition.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2013 (3) ◽  
pp. 53-66
Author(s):  
Skovikov Alexey

AbstractThe international practices takes into account the question of women's participation in the political life of modern Ukraine. The selection of the state was due to the dynamic process of democratic transformation - the separation of powers, the formation of multi-party competition among political actors in the electoral process, the activity women in the various institutions of civil society. The position was claimed on the basis of empirical data range of academic institutions and reputable sociological centers, and also interviews with experts who said that the creation of real conditions for self-realization by women's interest in politics is only possible for long term. The process is controversial and caused by political culture, traditions and interests of the ruling class represented mainly by men.


Author(s):  
Fabio Franchino

The history of nuclear energy policy in Italy is characterized by major shifts. After being a world leader in nuclear energy production in the 1960s, the country stopped its programme in the 1980s. An attempt at rejuvenating and expanding nuclear energy in the early 2000s came to an end after the Fukushima disaster. In both instances a referendum was held. Party competition, coalition politics, changes in government, and Italy’s institutional features, in particular the provisions for holding referendums, are the main factors explaining these policy reversals. The chapter concludes that a relaunch of the nuclear energy programme does not seem impossible, but is unlikely for the foreseeable future.


Author(s):  
Zaad Mahmood

The chapter discusses the party system in the macro context of politics. It highlights the limitations of political party and interest group analysis without reference to the political competition that shapes behaviour in politics. The chapter discusses theoretically the impact of party system on labour market flexibility and proceeds to show the interrelation between party competition and the behaviour of political parties, composition of socio-economic support bases, and the behaviour of interest groups that influence reform. In the context of labour market flexibility, the party-system operates as an intermediate variable facilitating reforms. The chapter contradicts the conventional notion that party system fragmentation impedes reform by showing how increasing party competition corresponds to greater labour market reforms. It shows that increases in the number of parties, facilitates labour market reforms through marginalization of the issue of labour, realignment of class interests within broader society and fragmentation of trade union movement.


Author(s):  
James F. Adams

This chapter broadly surveys spatial voting models of party competition in two dimensions, where, in Western democracies, the first dimension is typically the left-right dimension pertaining to policy debates over income redistribution and government intervention in the economy. The second dimension may encompass policy debates over issues that cross-cut the left-right economic dimension, or it may encompass universally valued “valence” dimensions of party evaluation such as parties’ images for competence, integrity, and leadership ability. The chapter reviews models with office-seeking and policy-seeking parties. It also surveys both the theoretical and the empirical literatures on these topics.


Author(s):  
Marco Morini ◽  
Matthew Loveless

Abstract Over the last two decades, the formation of grand coalitions has grown in the European Union (EU), even in countries with no previous political experience with them. Alongside a significant rise in both new and radical parties, grand coalitions signal the increasing fragmentation of contemporary European politics. We, therefore, investigate the electoral performance of both mainstream and new parties entering and leaving grand coalitions. We find that mainstream parties do not appear to enter grand coalitions after negative election results. They are, however, punished in the following elections, albeit not as heavily as previous findings have shown. This post-grand coalition electoral penalty is true for both major and minor grand coalition members. These findings contribute to the literature on party competition and provide insights into the choices mainstream parties' have been making in response to recent and rapid changes in the electoral landscape of the EU.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
DAVID JACKMAN ◽  
MATHILDE MAÎTROT

Abstract The authority of political leaders in Bangladesh rests on diverse qualities, not least of which are the muscle and finance they can mobilize, and the relationships they can craft with senior party members. These are utilized to confront rivals both within and outside their own party. In some instances, the intensity of intra-party competition can be so severe that a further quality emerges: the capacity to find allies among enemies. Building local inter-party alliances can bolster the authority of politicians, yet be to the detriment of party coherence. This argument is developed through an analysis of mayoral and parliamentary elections held in the past decade in a small Bangladeshi city, where a ruling party member of parliament (MP) and opposition mayor appear to have developed such a relationship. This has thwarted the electoral ambitions of their fellow party members and has posed a serious challenge to party discipline. While political competition is often seen as being either inter- or intra-party, here it is focused around inter-party alliances. This portrayal suggests we need to give greater emphasis to the decentralized and local character that political authority can take in Bangladesh.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document