Stable or Fragile Democracy? Political Cleavages and Party System in Hungary

1993 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
András Körösényi
Keyword(s):  
Middle Class ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Party System ◽  
Transition Process ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Specific Interest ◽  
Party Discipline ◽  
Electoral Success ◽  
Interest Representation ◽  
Western European

The Transition Process in Hungary Produced Well-established parties and a developed party system. Parties came into existence along political and ideological lines. Parties had an organization, party programme, membership and party discipline similar to those of political parties in the Western European countries. The organization and structure of these parties resembled those of middle-class parties more than socialist or communis/fascist parties. Hungarian parties also had ‘direct structure’ with individual membership. All of them were closer to mass parties than to cadre parties, i.e. their primary aim was electoral success. But none of them became a mass party in terms of membership figures, which were rather low (the total membership of the six parliamentary parties was below 200,000 in 1990, so it was about 2.5 – 3 per cent of the electorate. There were ‘catch-all’ parties (HDF, AFD), parties with specific interest representation (SHP) and parties organized along some ideological principle (CDPP).

The functions and positions of political parties in consociational democracies: theoretical and empirical contexts

2020 ◽  
pp. 28-33
Author(s):  
O. Morhuniuk
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Party System ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
European Countries ◽  
The Past ◽  
Democratic Regimes ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Key Aspects ◽  
Further Development

An article is devoted to the analysis of the functions and formats of political parties in consociational democracies. In particular, it is defined that parties that represent the interests of certain subcultures in society and that reach a consensus among themselves at the level of political agreements are called segmental. At the same time, parties that encapsulate different subgroups of the society that cooperate inside the party within main features of the consociational theory (grand coalition, mutual veto, proportionality in representations, and independence of segments or society subcultures) are called consociational. The theory of consociationalism has received a wide range of theoretical additions and criticism from political scientists over the past fifty years. And while political parties should have been, by definition, one of the key aspects of research within such democratic regimes (parties are part of large coalitions and agents of representation of certain subcultures), there is very scarce number of literature that focuses on this aspect. Therefore, the presented article provides a description of the functions of political parties that could be observed as inside their subcultures as well as in interaction with other segmental parties. Based on the experience of two European countries in the period of “classical” consociationalism (Belgium and the Netherlands), we explain the functions of the parties we have defined in such societies with examples of relevant consociational practices in them. Simultaneously with the analysis of segmental parties, the article also offers the characteristics of consociational parties. The emergence of such parties has its own institutional and historical features. The way of further development of the party system and the level of preservation of consociational practices makes it possible to understand the nature of changes in the societies. Similarly, the analysis of the forms of party competition and interaction between segmental parties makes it possible to outline the forms of those consociational changes that are taking place in the research countries.

scholarly journals Prawo i Sprawiedliwość w polskim systemie partyjnym (przyczynek do dyskusji o systemotwórczej roli partii)

2018 ◽  
pp. 79-94
Author(s):  
Andrzej ANTSZEWSKI
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Party System ◽  
Political Competition ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Moral Foundations ◽  
Governance System ◽  
Electoral Success ◽  
The Status ◽  
Law And Justice ◽  
The Government

Among the numerous functions of political parties, the role of creating the governance system is highly significant. It manifests itself in the ability of political parties to establish permanent relations with the other parties and in this way provides the essence of a party system. The purpose of the present paper is to demonstrate the role the Law and Justice party (PiS) plays in the creation of the governance system. Since 2005, PiS has been one of the two dominant political parties struggling to win the parliamentary and presidential elections. In order to determine the scope of this party’s influence on the shape of the party system, their achievements in elections, parliament and Cabinet activity need to be analyzed. Such a quantitative analysis allows us to grasp PiS’s development trends in political competition. The paper discusses the reasons for their electoral success in 2005 as well as their defeat in 2007 and the aftermath of both these elections for the party’s competition to the government. The achievements of PiS confirm that this party has won the status of a party that structures the political competition, a status that has not been lost irrespective of the five elections at different levels that the party has lost. PiS has successfully adopted the postulates of the Left in terms of the economy and social issues, whereas it has maintained the image of a right-wing party in terms of the shape of the state and its moral foundations. PiS has managed to form an electorate that differs from other parties’ electorates in terms of its social and demographic properties as well as its political attitudes, which reinforces the position of PiS in the electoral struggle. Yet PiS has failed to establish a permanent coalition government. The elimination of Self-Defence (Samoobrona) and the League of Polish Families (LPR) from the Sejm has practically deprived PiS of any coalition potential, or has at least significantly reduced this potential. This, coupled with a continuously growing negative electorate, may turn out to constitute the main obstacle to PiS regaining power.

scholarly journals A Matter of Supply and Demand: The Electoral Performance of Populist Parties in Three European Countries

2013 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-199 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stijn van Kessel
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Comparative Studies ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Supply And Demand ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Electoral Success ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Electoral Performance

This article assesses the electoral performance of populist parties in three European countries: the Netherlands, Poland and the United Kingdom. In explaining the electoral performance of the populist parties in the three countries, the article considers the agency of political parties in particular. More specifically, it examines the responsiveness of established parties and the credibility of the populist parties. Whereas the agency of populist parties, or other radical outsiders, has often been overlooked in previous comparative studies, this article argues that the credibility of the populist parties themselves plays a crucial role in understanding their electoral success and failure.

scholarly journals Democracy in Pakistan: Value Change and Challenges of Institution Building

1998 ◽  
Vol 37 (4II) ◽  
pp. 281-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saeed Shafqat
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Party System ◽  
Authoritarian Regimes ◽  
Institution Building ◽  
Value Change ◽  
Constitutional History ◽  
Interest Representation ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Military ◽  
Weak Party

Democracy as a system of governance and interest representation demands respect for dissent and opposition. It recognises the principle of majority rule and guarantees protection of minorities. Democracy also builds faith in electoral contestation to gain public office and gives legitimacy to political parties as primary instruments for acquisition and transfer of power from one set of individuals to another. Unfortunately, despite the significance of the above elements, no serious studies have been undertaken on Pakistan’s experimentation with democracy. Given a history of weak party system and prolonged military rule, most of the studies focus on the military, political parties, constitutional history, or in a descriptive way, attribute the failure of democracy to the inadequacies of the politicians [Ahmed (1987); Rizvi (1987); Callard (1957) and Afzal (1976)]. It is only recently that some theoretically meaningful and rigorous empirical writings have appeared on elections, procedures and practices of electoral contestation and on problems of transition from authoritarian regimes towards democracy [Waseem (1989); Wilder (1995); Talyor (1992); Rais (1997) and Shafqat (1997)].

Political Parties, Interest Representation and Economic Development in Poland

1970 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 1239-1245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerzy J. Wiatr
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Party System ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Interest Representation ◽  
Dominant Party ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Military ◽  
Mixed Types

Discussing the character of the Polish party system elsewhere, I have suggested a label of “hegemonic party system” for it, as well as for some other party systems based on similar principles. The hegemonic party systems stand mid-way between the mono-party systems and the dominant party systems as defined by Maurice Duverger. In an earlier paper written jointly with Rajni Kothari we have suggested the following typology of party systems:1. Alternative party systems, where two or more political parties compete for political power with realistic chances of success;2. Consensus party systems, where multi-partism does exist but one political party commands in a lasting way the loyalties of a predominant majority of the citizens and permanently runs the government;3. Hegemonic party systems, where all the existing parties form a lasting coalition within which one of them is accepted as the leading force of the coalition;4. Mono-party systems;5. Suspended party systems, where political parties exist but are prevented from regulating political life by other forces (for instance, by the military);6. Non-party systems, where the government is ideologically hostile toward the political parties as such and does not permit them to function.Quite obviously, this typology does not exclude mixed types of party systems. On the contrary, the very fact that in political life nothing is absolutely permanent leads to the emergence of transitory types of party systems.

It is time for a closer look: The demise of regional party branches

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 120-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sofia Collignon
Keyword(s):  
Survival Analysis ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Party System ◽  
Second Order ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
European Countries ◽  
National Elections ◽  
Subnational Elections ◽  
The Stability

Traditionally, decentralization has been linked with the stability of the party system because it helps parties to succeed in national elections. Yet, previous research has frequently obviated the intertwined nature of multilevel party competition. This research takes a closer look at parties’ subnational electoral trajectories while arguing that decentralization increases the risk of new party demise by making subnational elections more attractive for all kinds of parties to compete in. The argument is tested applying survival analysis to the electoral trajectories of 1235 regional branches of political parties in 12 European countries. Results show that contrary to what has been stated previously on the literature, decentralization increases the risk of parties disappearing. This effect fades away the older and more consolidated the party becomes, and it is of particular relevance for regionalist parties. These findings have important implications for the literature on second-order elections and multilevel party competition.

Neighborhood of Passion

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Ben Prestel
Keyword(s):  
At Risk ◽  
Alcohol Consumption ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Loss Of Control ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
British Occupation ◽  
Western European

A central entertainment district also became the focus of debates about emotions in Cairo. Following the British occupation of Egypt in 1882, newspapers and magazines began to argue that activities in the neighborhood of Azbakiyya, such as alcohol consumption, prostitution, and gambling, destroyed the rationality of Cairo’s middle-class men. According to these accounts, men were at risk of wavering between extreme emotions of anger and love in the entertainment district. This loss of control over their emotions would ultimately lead to dire consequences for entire families and the Egyptian nation at large. The chapter shows that these portrayals were inseparable from the shifting power structures in Cairo. Since many customers, barmaids and pimps came from Western European countries, Azbakiyya was framed as a symptom of the “foreign” domination of Egypt.

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