A Reply to J. A. A. Lovink, “On Analysing the Impact of the Electoral System on the Party System in Canada”

1970 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 517-521 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan C. Cairns
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Party System ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Conventional Wisdom ◽  
Previous Article ◽  
Systematic Bias ◽  
Relative Paucity ◽  
Respective Treatment ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Academic Resources

Analysis of the Canadian political system has suffered from a relative paucity of competing interpretations of the same phenomena. Too many interpretations of our polity have gone unchallenged, probably on the assumption that our scarce academic resources should not be wasted on internecine controversy while virgin fields remain untapped. Professor Lovink's article is a hopeful indication that this stage of disciplinary immaturity is ending. His sophisticated dissection of my previous article is a helpful contribution to the discussion of the effects of the electoral system on the party system. These comments, by concentrating on some of the problems raised by Lovink, are designed to contribute to a further clarification.Initially, it can be noted, that the disagreement between us is not over the data dealing with votes and seats, but with the interpretation to be given the data. It was perhaps in the very nature of a somewhat polemical article attacking the “conventional wisdom” that I stressed the effects as I saw, or deduced, them, and in the nature of Lovink's rejoinder that the possible effects are minimized.This difference is noteworthy in our respective treatment of the electoral system's systematic bias against Conservative Quebec voters. The data indicate that the ratio of 5.6 Liberals to 1 Conservative mp resulted from a ratio of 1.9 Liberals to 1 Conservative voter. This struck me as pregnant with consequences for the party system, some of which I tried to suggest.

scholarly journals The impact of using proportional representation system on the fragmentation of the party system in Algeria. Applied to the elections of the National People’s Assembly (1997–2017)

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Mahmoud Mahgoub
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Party System ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Proportional Representation ◽  
Effective Number ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
Representation System ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Number Of Parties ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of using proportional representation system on the fragmentation of the party system in the Algerian political system within the period from 1997 to 2017, in which Algeria has experienced five legislative elections regularly every five years by testing a hypothesis about adopting the proportional representation system on the basis of the closed list during the foregoing legislative elections has obviously influenced the exacerbation of the Algerian party system’s fragmentation, compared to other factors. Design/methodology/approach The essence of the theoretical framework of this study is to address the effect of the electoral system as an independent variable on the party system as a dependent variable. The starting point for that framework is to reassess the “Duverger’s law,” which appeared since the early 1950s and has influenced the foregoing relationship, and then to review the literature on a new phase that tried to provide a more accurate mechanism for determining the number of parties and their relative weight, whether in terms of electoral votes or parliamentary seats. This means that researchers began to use a measure called the effective number of parties (ENP) for Laakso and Taagepera since 1979. The study elaborates the general concepts of the electoral system and the party system. It used Laakso, Taagepera index of the “ENP” to measure the phenomenon of fragmentation party during the five legislative elections from 1997 to 2017 in Algeria. Findings The results of the study reveal that the proportional representation electoral system – beside other factors – had clear impacts on the fragmentation of the Algerian party system by all standards, whether on the level of the apparent rise in the number of the parties represented in the Algerian parliament from 10 parties in 1997 election to 36 parties in 2017 election or according to the index of Laakso and Taagepera (ENP). The average number of effective number of electoral parties in the five elections was around 7.66, and the average number of effective number of parliamentary parties in the five elections was around 4.39, which puts Algeria in an advanced degree of the fragmentation of the party system. Originality/value This study about the phenomenon of the fragmentation of the party system, which is one of the new subjects in the field of comparative politics – globally and in the Arab world. Hence, the value of this study aims to shed light on this mysterious area of science, the fragmentation of the party system in the Algerian political system during the period from 1997 to 2017.

Back to the Westminster model? The Brexit process and the UK political system

2021 ◽  
pp. 019251212096737
Author(s):  
Gianfranco Baldini ◽  
Edoardo Bressanelli ◽  
Emanuele Massetti
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Party System ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Executive Power ◽  
The Political ◽  
Westminster Model ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Quantitative Indicators ◽  
The Impact

This article investigates the impact of Brexit on the British political system. By critically engaging with the conceptualisation of the Westminster model proposed by Arend Lijphart, it analyses the strains of Brexit on three dimensions developed from from Lijphart’s framework: elections and the party system, executive– legislative dynamics and the relationship between central and devolved administrations. Supplementing quantitative indicators with an in-depth qualitative analysis, the article shows that the process of Brexit has ultimately reaffirmed, with some important caveats, key features of the Westminster model: the resilience of the two-party system, executive dominance over Parliament and the unitary character of the political system. Inheriting a context marked by the progressive weakening of key majoritarian features of the political system, the Brexit process has brought back some of the traditional executive power-hoarding dynamics. Yet, this prevailing trend has created strains and resistances that keep the political process open to different developments.

Voters reward hard-working MPs: empirical evidence from the French legislative elections

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 469-483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abel François ◽  
Julien Navarro
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Political System ◽  
Presidential Elections ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Vote Share ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
National Assembly ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Legislative Election

AbstractThis paper studies the relationship between incumbent MPs’ activities and their electoral fortune. We address this question in the context of the French political system characterized by an executive domination, a candidate-centered electoral system, and an electoral schedule maximizing the impact of the presidential elections. Given the contradictory influence of these three institutional features on the relationship between MPs’ activities and electoral results, the overall link can only be assessed empirically. We test the effects of several measurements of MPs’ activities on both their vote share and reelection probability in the 2007 legislative election. We show that MPs’ activities are differently correlated to both the incumbents’ vote shares in the first round and their reelection. Despite the weakness of the French National Assembly, several parliamentary activities, especially bill initiation, have a significant effect on MPs’ electoral prospects.

scholarly journals EVOLUTION OF THE PARTY SYSTEM OF THE REPUBLIC OF CYPRUS: FROM BIRTH TO STABILIZATION

2018 ◽  
pp. 16-22
Author(s):  
Nataliya Khoma
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political System ◽  
Party System ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Internal Conflict ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Republic Of Cyprus ◽  
The Eu

The process of the formation of the party system of Cyprus was considered. The period from colonial to 1981 is covered. The factors that influenced the evolution of the parties of Cyprus, in particular the internal conflict, were underlined. Emphasizes the importance of the ethnic component of the population of Cyprus. The attention was paid to the role of the Orthodox Church in shaping the political system of Cyprus. The article analyzes the norms of the Constitution of the Republic of Cyprus (1960) concerning political parties, in which the focus was on the parliamentary aspect of party activity. The role of Archbishop Makarios III, the first president of Cyprus, for the further evolution of the party system in the 1960–70s was revealed. Presented chronology of the appearance of the main parties of Cyprus and their participation in elections and coalitions. The article emphasizes that after the accession of Cyprus to the EU in 2004, the party system of the state is experiencing the trend of the newest European tendencies on the national party palette: the level of people’s confidence in the parties is decreasing, the party identity is blurred, the voter turnout is gradually decreasing, new types of parties are emerging, Radicalization is notable and so on. The party system of Cyprus is special, even if only within the EU there is a pro-communist party (Progressive Party of the Labor People of Cyprus), represented in the European Parliament, among the leading political forces. It was emphasized that the political parties of Cyprus until 1974 were purely electoral mechanisms. The new stage of development began with the stabilization of the post-colonial political system of Cyprus. At this time, the church lost its past influence, and the majoritarian electoral system alienated itself. This led to a new stage in the development of the party system in the late 1970s. It is noted that the determining factor was the transition to a proportional electoral system and the introduction of mandatory participation of voters in the vote. It was emphasized that these legislative innovations became important factors in the development of the modern party system of Cyprus. Since that time, the Cypriot parties have become more independent and united in the coalition.

scholarly journals Democracy, Islam and Party System in Indonesia: towards a consensus-oriented model?

PCD Journal ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 27
Author(s):  
Pal Istvan Gyene
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Party System ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Political Islam ◽  
Comparative Approach ◽  
Advantages And Disadvantages ◽  
Democratic Parties ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Parliamentary Politics ◽  
Different Levels

This paper argues that the impact of “Islam” on the Indonesian political system is worth studying on three different levels: 1. society’s political divisions; 2. the party system 3. parliamentary politics. I contend that there is a specifically Indonesian “consensus-oriented” democracy model involved in the process—which is not, however, without Western predecessors—wherein political Islam and Islamist parties act not as destabilising factors but rather as “Muslim democratic” forces that strengthen democratic consensus in a manner similar to some “Western” Christian democratic parties. This research is based partly on a historical and, implicitly, comparative approach. It builds strongly on the theoretical framework and methodology of Sartori’s classic party system typology, Lijphardt’s “majoritarian” and “consensus-based” democracy model, and the so-called neo-institutionalist debate on the possible advantages and disadvantages of parliamentary and presidential governments.  

Personal vote, spatial registration rules, and party system nationalization in Latin America

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 192-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yen-Pin Su
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Party System ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Electoral Systems ◽  
Interactive Effect ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
Spatial Registration ◽  
Party Registration ◽  
The Impact

While many studies of party system nationalization examine the effects of various institutional factors, few take into account the impact of party formation cost. This paper aims to fill the empirical gap by focusing on the interactive effect of electoral systems and party registration rules. I argue that the effect of electoral systems on party system nationalization is conditional on spatial registration rules, a requirement that requires a party to collect signatures or organize local branches in a specified geographical manner to maintain the party’s legal status. Based on data for 97 legislative elections in 18 Latin American countries from 1978 to 2011, the empirical analysis demonstrates that a country with an electoral system that encourages a personal vote tends to have a much lower level of party system nationalization when that country does not have spatial registration requirements. The result is robust across different model specifications and estimation techniques.

VECTORS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF CIVIL SOCIETY AND PARTY-POLITICAL SYSTEM OF RUSSIA AS A RESULT OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 156-174
Author(s):  
S.A. NIKONENKO ◽  
◽  
V.F. PENKOV ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Political System ◽  
Party System ◽  
State Power ◽  
Institutional Development ◽  
Constitutional Reform ◽  
The Subject ◽  
New Challenges ◽  
Political Configuration ◽  
The Impact

The purpose of the article is to consider the ongoing systemic transformations after the adoption of amendments to the Constitution of the country at the all-Russian Vote on July 1, 2020. In the course of reasoning, the processes under study were analyzed not from the legal side, but from the position of a political forecast of the vectors of development of civil society and the party-political configuration. The object is the process of changes in the party-political system of Russia and the development of civil society. The subject is the impact of the 2020 constitutional reform on civil society and the institutional development of partogenesis. Amendments to the Constitution adopted at the all-Russian Vote were a response to new challenges and prevention of potential social splits. The authors, using the method of electronic polling of twenty regional experts and the hardware of the program "Google-Form", received answers to questions covering important aspects of the development of society, the party system and state power. It can be argued that the 2020 constitutional reform laid the foundations for preventing divisions in civil society.

Toryism to Tamworth: The Triumph of Reform, 1827-1835

1980 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 132-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard W. Davis
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Turning Point ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Historical Process ◽  
Middle Classes ◽  
The Impact

The Great Reform Act has received a great deal of much needed attention in the last decade. One mode of getting at its significance has, however, been largely ignored. The mode usually followed, particularly recently, has been to examine what the Whig framers of the Act thought they were about, and then, by means of electoral analysis, whether they achieved their object. The two questions are not necessarily the same, of course. For example, most historians of the period would now agree that Professor D. C. Moore, however valuable and stimulating his contribution to the debate, is wrong about Whig intentions. Some may suspect he is also at least in part wrong about the electoral system which grew out of the Act. That, however, has yet to be proven. Yet, even if we could know all about the reformed electoral system, we would still not know all about the impact of the Great Reform Act. For in history what is important is not only what actually happened, but what people of the time believe happened. It is to this sort of question that I want to turn my attention in this paper. Because one of the best ways to appreciate the great significance of the Reform Act is to examine the change it wrought in the attitudes of politicians, particularly of Tory politicians.Undoubtedly, the two most important of the recent works on the Act are the books of Professors Brock and Cannon. Essentially, both represent a vindication of the main outlines of the old “Whig interpretation.” Thus, both Brock and Cannon see the Act as a response to mounting pressures out-of-doors, the culmination of a long historical process, and an important turning point in the emergence of a more liberal and broadly based political system. Nor does either doubt that the Act marked an important concession to the middle classes, or that it deserves its old designation of “Great.”

On Analysing the Impact of the Electoral System on the Party System in Canada

1970 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 497-516 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. A. Lovink
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Party System ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Nous Sommes ◽  
Plan National ◽  
The Impact

De l'analyse de I'influence du système électoral sur le régime des partis politiques au CanadaL'article est une critique de la récente ètude publiée par A. C. Cairns sur le même sujet et où on tentait de préciser I'influence du système électoral fédéral quant au succès des partis politiques fédéraux comme agents d'integration nationale. Cairns estime que le régime canadien de represéntation (un représentant par circonscription électorale élu à la pluralité des voix) a structuré le marché politique et régionalisé la représentation partisane au parlement de telle manieáre que les politiques et les attitudes qui y prévalent se sont avérées plus territorialisées que nationales et ont tendu plus à diviser le pays qu'à I'unifier; cet auteur notait également que, depuis 1921, le système électoral n'a pas, contrairement à I'avantage qu'on lui prête, favorisé I'efficacité du gouvernement parlementaire.Le présent article, tout en reconnaissant la valeur des travaux de Cairns, met en doute plusieurs de ses conclusions. II se demande si la preuve est bien faite que les partis fédéraux du Canada ont poursuivi des objectifs politiques régionalement distincts; il avance diverses raisons amenant à douter que la composition régionalisée des partis présents au parlement (ce qui, en soi, n'est que partiellement redevable au système électoral) puisse constituer la principale explication dans la discrimination des politiques régionales les unes à I'egard des autres; il souligne, enfin, que nous sommes loin de savoir I'impact réel du système électoral quant à la formulation des thèmes électoraux retenus par les partis.L'article endosse la position de Cairns voulant que le système électoral affecte la distribution des sièges entre les partis mais il avance plusieurs raisons à I'effet qu'il faille considirér plus favorablement que ne le fait Cairns I'influence du système électoral sur le nombre et I'évolution des sièges détenus par un parti. Bref, l'article soutient que les conclusions de Cairns sont trop peu fondées et que, à première vue, elles ont tendance à exagérer la signification du systéme électoral sur la politique des partis, à magnifier ses conséquences au plan national et à minimiser sa contribution effective au fonctionnement du gouvernement de type parlementaire.

scholarly journals Politics Without Meso-Level? No Politics at the Meso?

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilona Pálné Kovács
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Party System ◽  
Second Order ◽  
Ongoing Research ◽  
Meso Level ◽  
The Public ◽  
Interest Representation ◽  
Hungarian Case ◽  
The Impact

The paper examines the role of meso-level governance in the Hungarian political system focusing on the county self-governments. The objective of the author is to introduce the consequences of the lack of meso-level politics for the backslide of the democratic system. The paper focusing on Hungarian counties seeks to explore the three-decade-long process leading to the progressive elimination of these bodies from the public power arena. The Hungarian case demonstrates how the overall administrative and political centralisation process has contributed to the hollowing-out of meso-level political actors. The Hungarian case study underlines the complex interrelations between the macro-political system, and the territorial political governmental arenas from the aspect of the centre and periphery power relations. Many European regional governments are not only platforms for territorial interest representation but also a counterweight to the central level contributing to the quality and stability of democratic governance. The study reviewing the situation of Hungarian counties draws on the author’s previous empirical research experiences and is a part of the ongoing research on governance issues of peripheral areas1. The results of the analyses discuss the implications of the hollowing-out of county governments on the electoral and party system, the modification of the institutional channels of interest representation. The Hungarian example appears to corroborate the analogy with the theory of second order elections. The theory of second order elections recognized the impact on the turnout and electoral preferences based on the changing role of different governance levels, by the same token, it seems that the weakening power position of the meso contributes to the decline of political competition and publicity by minimizing the interest of the public in general. The objective of the present study is to enrich the assessment of the relationship between territorial governance and democracy with some analytical options by demonstrating the implications of the “second order nature” of the meso.

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