13. Party systems

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniele Caramani
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Party System ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Competitive Interactions ◽  
Liberal Democracies ◽  
Multiparty Systems

This chapter examines how competition between political parties gives rise to different party systems. In liberal democracies, competition for power is based on popular votes. The shape and dynamics of party systems are determined by the electoral game, with parties as main actors. A party system is thus essentially the result of competitive interactions between parties. A party system has three main elements: which parties exist, how many parties exist and how big they are, and how parties behave. An obvious but important point is that party systems must be composed of more than one political party. The chapter begins with a discussion of the origins of party systems, followed by an analysis of the format of party systems, such as two-party systems and multiparty systems. It then considers the influence of the electoral system on party systems before concluding with an assessment of the dynamics of party systems.

13. Party Systems

2020 ◽  
pp. 231-251
Author(s):  
Daniele Caramani
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Party System ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Competitive Interactions ◽  
Liberal Democracies ◽  
Multiparty Systems

This chapter examines how competition between political parties gives rise to different party systems. In liberal democracies, competition for power is based on popular votes. The shape and dynamics of party systems are determined by the electoral game, with parties as main actors. A party system is thus essentially the result of competitive interactions between parties. A party system has three main elements: which parties exist, how many parties exist and how big they are, and how parties behave. An obvious but important point is that party systems must be composed of more than one political party. The chapter begins with a discussion of the origins of party systems, followed by an analysis of the format of party systems, such as two-party systems and multiparty systems. It then considers the influence of the electoral system on party systems, before concluding with an assessment of the dynamics of party systems.

Ghana's political parties: how ethno/regional variations sustain the national two-party system

2006 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 623-647 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minion K. C. Morrison ◽  
Jae Woo Hong
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Party System ◽  
National Level ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Party Organisation ◽  
Electoral Support ◽  
Fourth Republic ◽  
Complex Varieties ◽  
Election Results

This paper analyses Ghanaian electoral geography and its accompanying political party variations over the last decade. After re-democratisation in the early 1990s, the Fourth Republic of Ghana has successfully completed multiple elections and party alternation. Due to its single-member-district-plurality electoral system, the country has functioned virtually as a two-party system, privileging its two major parties – the NDC and the NPP. However, close examination of election results in the last parliamentary and presidential elections reveals that notwithstanding the two-party tendency, there is a dynamic and multilayered aspect of electoral participation in Ghanaian politics. Ethnic-based regional cleavages show much more complex varieties of electoral support for the two major parties, especially in light of fragmentation and concentration. Electoral support in the ten regions varies from strong one-party-like to almost three-party systems. Yet this lower, regional level tendency is not invariable. Regional party strengths have shifted from election to election, and it was just such shifts that made the party alternation possible in 2000. Employing traditional and newly designed indicators, this paper illustrates the patterns of electoral cleavage and regional party organisation, and how these ultimately sustain the party system at the national level in Ghana.

From Thaw to Deluge: Party System Collapse in Venezuela and Peru

2007 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry A. Dietz ◽  
David J. Myers
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Party System ◽  
System Change ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Viable Alternative ◽  
Sequential Process ◽  
System Collapse ◽  
Personal Authority ◽  
Party System Institutionalization

AbstractWhat conditions facilitate party system collapse, the farthest-reaching variant of party system change? How does collapse occur? Numerous studies of lesser types of party system change exist, but studies of party system collapse are rare. This study draws on the existing literature and the cases of party system collapse in Venezuela (1988–2000) and Peru (1985–95) to advance some answers to the important questions about the phenomenon. The study posits three conditions that predispose political party systems to collapse: the presence of an acute or sustained crisis that questions the ability of system-sustaining political parties to govern; extremely low or extremely high levels of party system institutionalization; and the emergence of an anti-establishment figure with the desire and personal authority to generate a viable alternative to the established party system. The study also posits a three-election sequential process during which collapse takes place.

scholarly journals The representative deficit in different European Party Systems: an analysis of the elections to the European Parliament 2009-2014

2020 ◽  
Vol 83 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-57
Author(s):  
Jonathan Bright ◽  
Diego Garzia ◽  
Joseph Lacey ◽  
Alexander H. Trechsel
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Voting Advice Applications

This paper explores the extent to which different party systems in Europe effectively represent their citizens. We argue that many European countries suffer from a “representative deficit”, which occurs when a significant portion of citizens have to vote for a political party whose stated views are actually quite different from their own. We measure the extent of this deficit in different European countries using data from EU Profiler and euandi, two Voting Advice Applications which served millions of users during the EP elections in 2009 and 2014 respectively. We find wide variation in the extent to which political parties are accurately tuned in to the preferences of their voters, a variation which is not clearly linked to the number of political parties or the proportionality of the electoral system. We attempt to explain some of this variation, and explore the reasons why some party systems offer better representation than others.

scholarly journals Electoral System and Party Dimension Assessment in Democratic Indonesia

2017 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
M. Faishal Aminuddin
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Party System ◽  
Electoral System ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
National Election ◽  
Election Result ◽  
Ideological Polarization ◽  
New Democracy

Studies on election and its consequences on political parties in new democratic countries have often paid attention to cover the impacts imposed on the party system. This paper aims to examine the extent of the electoral system in influencing political parties in terms of improving their function or performance. This study will apply an analytical framework initiated earlier by webb and White (2009) on party dimension in the new democracy by looking at the Indonesian case. In this framework, there are saveral generic factors in the relation between the electoral system and the party's function such as ideological polarization, party constituency base, fractionalization in parliament and vote distribution. This study found that any changes applied to the electoral system in democratic Indonesian bear little or insignificant impact on political party performance. In addition, this study made use of the national election result dataset and calculated the variables with correlated formula which were subsequently analyzed to obtain an empirical explanation.

Hong Kong's Stunted Political Party System

2002 ◽  
Vol 172 ◽  
pp. 1010-1028 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lau Siu-kai ◽  
Kuan Hsin-chi
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Party System ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Political Class ◽  
Business Elites ◽  
British Colony ◽  
Political Party System ◽  
Representation Of Interests

Hong Kong's political parties are now in decline after the return of the former British colony to China. The decline of political parties stands out in stark relief in a context featuring “Hong Kong people governing Hong Kong” and gradual democratization. A major reason for the decline is the stunted political party system of Hong Kong. Prominent in that stunted system is the absence of a ruling party. The stunted party system is primarily the result of Beijing's antipathy towards party politics in Hong Kong, which in turn discourages party formation by the Hong Kong government and the conservative elites. The lack of incentives for the business elites to organize political parties to protect their interests is another major reason. The stunted party system has produced serious adverse consequences for the governance of Hong Kong, representation of interests, public attitudes towards the political class and the further democratization of the territory.

scholarly journals Cleavages and Government in Slovenia and Montenegro

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 593-621
Author(s):  
Alenka Krašovec ◽  
Nemanja Batrićević
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Democratic Transition ◽  
Party System ◽  
Institutional Setting ◽  
International Organisations ◽  
Multiparty Systems ◽  
Cleavage Structure ◽  
System Characteristics ◽  
Ruling Party

AbstractIn this article we identify the factors that contribute to the formation and especially the durability/stability of governments in both Slovenia and Montenegro after they formally introduced multiparty systems and following their democratic transition, with a focus on the effect of cleavages and party system characteristics generally. Although these two polities share several important similarities (small size, common institutional setting during Yugoslav era, aspirations for membership in international organisations etc.), the nature of governments’ durability/stability in the democratic era entails distinct differences. While Montenegro stands out in post-socialist Europe as the only case where the ruling party has not been overthrown, Slovenia has been led by many governments composed of different political parties. While it seems that in neither country are the ideological characteristics of the governments able to explain their duration/stability to any important extent, it is obvious that the cleavage structure in the two countries has varied, as has the importance of particular cleavages.

Downs Meets the Press: How Party Systems Shape the News

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew A. Baum ◽  
Philip B. K. Potter
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Government Policy ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
International Media ◽  
The Press ◽  
Content Analyses ◽  
Multiparty Systems

This chapter examines the validity of the “Downsian Premise,” which states that democratic multiparty systems tend to engender political coverage that is more diverse, more policy-centric, and more prone to challenge the government's policy line than coverage in two-party democracies. To test this proposition, the chapter conducts content analyses of international media coverage of four recent multinational conflicts (Kosovo 1999, Afghanistan 2001, Iraq 2003, and Libya 2011). Newspapers in countries with more political parties offered relatively more policy-oriented news, more criticism of government policy, and more varied topical coverage than their counterparts in countries with fewer parties. These results lend credence to the Downsian Premise.

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