Social Origin Is No Destiny: Background, Institutionalization, and Electoral Performance of New Political Parties in Slovakia

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 637-662 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marek Rybář ◽  
Peter Spáč
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Social Origin ◽  
Electoral Support ◽  
European Democracy ◽  
The Social ◽  
Political Entrepreneur ◽  
Party Institutionalization ◽  
Political Entrepreneurs ◽  
Electoral Performance

The existing research suggests that socially rooted new political parties are more likely to be reelected to parliaments than parties emerging without links to preexisting social groups. It is argued that the two groups face different prospects of institutionalization: Rooted parties are more viable because their links to preexisting societal groups contribute to a higher sustainability of their electoral support and stronger institutionalization. We assess the link between the origin of parties, their level of institutionalization, and their electoral performance in the context of Slovakia, a new Eastern European democracy. We add to the existing state of knowledge in three ways. First, we empirically assess the link between the social origin of parties and their level of institutionalization. We also provide rich empirical material on the intraparty processes resulting in various levels of institutionalization. Subsequently, we assess whether rooted parties record better electoral performance than political entrepreneur parties. Second, we provide some illustration of the fact that agential factors, especially the decisions and activities related to leadership contestation, directly impact both party institutionalization and electoral performance. Third, we show that developing the links to a sociostructurally well-defined electorate may be a viable strategy to secure a parliamentary relevance for a prolonged period of time for some political entrepreneurs. Our findings suggest that parties with different levels of institutionalization are able to secure reelection, and that their electoral performance is not directly linked to their social origins.

scholarly journals A jelenlét nélküli jelen(lét) – a hazai pártszervezetek fejlettségének területi különbségei

2021 ◽  
Vol 145 (3) ◽  
pp. 232-248
Keyword(s):  
Research Area ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
Political Movement ◽  
Critical Research ◽  
Single Person ◽  
The Social ◽  
General Elections ◽  
Party Institutionalization ◽  
Electoral Performance ◽  
The Relationship

Numerous studies draw a direct link between party institutionalization and democratic (re) consolidation. The level of organization of a given political movement can easily determine their subsequent electoral performance. Not just in Hungary, but within the wider Central-Eastern-European region, accessing data on party membership, branch offices, etc., is extremely challenging, therefore concluding or discovering party organizational strength is a critical research area. In this study I am making a bold attempt to unveil the social embeddedness of the most important political parties from the 2014 general elections to the latest EP elections (2019), by using the polling station table-seater delegates` presence as an indicator of local party presence itself. I assume that, if a given party is not able to delegate a single person to a certain polling station, they have no operating organizations at the grassroots level, therefore it indicates their lack of localization and extensive network. With simple quantitative methodologies, I was also seeking the relationship between electoral performance and party organizational presence locally.

The Origins of Chancellor Democracy and the Transformation of the German Democratic Paradigm

2007 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 7-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Mommsen
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Culture ◽  
Democratic Party ◽  
Social Democratic Party ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
Constitutional Democracy ◽  
Electoral Support ◽  
Parliamentary Sovereignty ◽  
The Social

The role of Konrad Adenauer in the proceedings of the Parliamentary Council in Bonn and his decision after his election as first federal chancellor not to form a coalition government with the Social Democratic Party paved the way to a fundamental transformation of the traditional German democratic paradigm versus the Anglo-Saxon concept of interaction between government and parliamentary opposition. The inherited pattern of constitutional democracy that had contributed to the structural weaknesses of Weimar parliamentarism was replaced by the concept of an interaction between government and opposition. Political parties took on the primary tasks of securing stable parliamentary majorities and providing sufficient electoral support for the chancellor. Adenauer's resolved political leadership, therefore, was an indispensable contribution to the reorientation of West German political culture from the former distrust of unrestricted parliamentary sovereignty toward Western democratic traditions.

The Class Basis of Arqentine Political Parties

1969 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-167
Author(s):  
Peter G. Snow
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Voting Behavior ◽  
Party Identification ◽  
The Other ◽  
Industrial Workers ◽  
Middle Classes ◽  
Party Leaders ◽  
Electoral Support ◽  
The Social

Students of Latin American political parties have long assumed a strong correlation between social class and party identification, yet this assumption has never been tested empirically in any of the Latin American nations. This is probably due in large part to the lack of reliable survey data; however, even the mass of aggregate voting data has seldom been analyzed systematically. As a result, most of what we know—or think we know—about voting behavior in Latin America is based upon the intuitive assumptions of North American scholars. “If I were a member of the Chilean middle class, I would probably vote for the Radicals or Christian Democrats, but on the other hand if I were quite wealthy I would probably vote for the Conservatives.”Students of Argentine politics assume that the Conservative parties, always representing the interests of the nation's aristocracy, have received the bulk of their votes from the large landowners; that the interests of this group consistently have been opposed by the Radical parties who receive their electoral support from the urban middle classes; and that the more recently formed Peronist parties have championed the cause of, and been supported at the polls by, the industrial workers. It is the purpose of this article to test these assumptions, primarily through analysis of aggregate voting data, but also by examining the social backgrounds of party leaders and their actions while in power.

Electoral Performance of New Political Parties in Ukraine: The Context of Electoral Volatility at the Parliamentary Level (1998–2019)

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 274-292
Author(s):  
Anatoliy Romanyuk ◽  
Vitaliy Lytvyn
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Identity Politics ◽  
Party System ◽  
Party Affiliation ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
Electoral Volatility ◽  
Electoral Support ◽  
The Government ◽  
Electoral Performance ◽  
Levels Of Support

This article is devoted to study and comparative analysis of the features and levels of support for new political parties during parliamentary elections in Ukraine, in particular the period 1998–2019. With this in mind, mainly based on the calculations of the indices of overall electoral volatility, intra-system electoral volatility and extra-system electoral volatility, we analyze the parameters of changes in electoral support (by voters) for political parties, in particular new ones, during the 1998–2019 parliamentary elections in Ukraine. In addition, we correlate overall, intra-system and extra-system electoral volatility, and present the correlation of overall electoral volatility in the sample of all political parties as the subjects of electoral processes in Ukraine and political parties elected to the national parliament (the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine). As a result, the study outlines two clusters of extra-system electoral volatility, which show the highest level of similarity, and calculates the dependence of the level of electoral volatility and stability of the party system in Ukraine. With this background, we conclude that electoral volatility in Ukraine is largely determined by the effect of party affiliation or desire to belong to the government or opposition, and is regulated by the special context of identity politics in this country.

Electoral support and militants’ targeting strategies

2021 ◽  
pp. 002234332110477
Author(s):  
Deniz Aksoy ◽  
David Carlson
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Legislative Elections ◽  
Empirical Examination ◽  
Opposition Party ◽  
Electoral Support ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Incumbent Party ◽  
Electoral Performance ◽  
The Impact

Militant groups that are in armed conflict with a government often coexist with political parties that have ethnic or ideological connections to them. In this article, we explore the extent to which electoral support received by militant associated opposition parties and nationally incumbent political parties influences subnational variation in militant attacks. We argue, and empirically demonstrate, that militants strategically target localities where the levels of electoral support for the opposition party and the nationally incumbent party are close in an effort to negatively influence the electoral performance of the incumbent party. To illustrate this dynamic we examine subnational data from 1995 to 2015 Turkish legislative elections and attacks organized by the Kurdish militants within the same time period. We also examine the impact of June 2015 legislative elections on militant attacks until the snap elections in November 2015. Our empirical examination shows that militants target localities where electoral support for the governing party and Kurdish opposition party is close. Moreover, increase in violence negatively influences the electoral performance of the governing party. However, it does not consistently have a significant influence on the opposition. The findings illustrate that militants strategically choose the location of their attacks based on electoral dynamics, and attacks can pose an electoral challenge to the governing party.

Of political entrepreneurs: Assembling community and social capital in Hyderabad’s informal settlements

Urban Studies ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 004209802110141
Author(s):  
Indivar Jonnalagadda
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Informal Settlements ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
Structural Constraints ◽  
Social Infrastructure ◽  
The Social ◽  
Academic Researchers ◽  
Political Entrepreneurs ◽  
Relational Framework

This paper theorises the political entrepreneurship of local political actors variously described as brokers, fixers or leaders, by examining their consistent and flexible labour towards gaining and maintaining political influence in informal settlements. Through close attention to how two exemplary individuals work and network with a combination of political parties, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and local associations, I reveal the crucial role of political entrepreneurs in organising or representing local populations as legible ‘communities’, and thus, in mediating relations between communities and external agencies such as the state, political parties, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and also academic researchers. Observing informal settlements in this relational framework sheds light on how political entrepreneurs compete to become obligatory intermediaries between various institutions. This approach destabilises conceptions about the social infrastructure and social capital of a locality which underlie many community development programmes. Further, I argue that in the long-term, the careers of political entrepreneurs are punctuated by structural constraints in the form of limits to political party patronage, volatile NGO funding and the transient presence of academic researchers. The work of reproducing the social capital of the neighbourhood becomes a persistent and anxious striving with few actual opportunities for mobility.

Elections in Poland 2001: electoral manipulation and party upheaval

2003 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Millard
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Social Democrats ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
Coalition Partner ◽  
Electoral Support ◽  
Party Development ◽  
The Social ◽  
Electoral Law ◽  
The Impact

The Polish parliamentary elections of 2001 took place in a context of fresh upheavals in the configuration of political parties. The architects of the new electoral law aimed to reduce the seats gained by the social democrats and increase their own. They succeeded in the first aim by a change of electoral formula, forcing the victorious social democratic electoral coalition to seek a third coalition partner. They did not achieve the second aim, as their own failures in government drastically reduced their electoral support and facilitated the breakthrough of populist formations. The result had implications for party development and the composition and workings of both parliament and government. While representation was enhanced by a parliament more accurately reflecting the voters’ choice, the impact appeared potentially harmful to Polish democracy as a whole.

scholarly journals SOCIAL POLICY IN THE DISCOURSE OF POLITICAL PARTIES IN THE SNAP ELECTION TO THE VERKHOVNA RADA IN 2014

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
pp. 234-242
Author(s):  
Yuliia MATIIV
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
Policy Formation ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Sphere ◽  
Road Map ◽  
Electoral Support ◽  
The Social ◽  
Political Forces

The article describes the political parties' approach to implementing the state's social policy during the snap election to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in 2014. A discursive dimension of political parties' activities in the area of social policy was studied. Specific examples have shown political parties as a subject of social policy formation. It was found out that the events of the Revolution of Dignity and the beginning of Russia's military aggression against Ukraine forced Ukrainian politicians to reconsider existing approaches to the formation of party programs. The author analyzed the reflection of social policy in the election programs of the parties that had formed parliamentary groups: «Blok Petra Poroshenka «Solidarnist», «Narodnyi front», Radykalnoi partii Oleha Liashka, «Opozytsiinyi blok», «Obiednannia «Samopomich», «Vseukrainskoho obiednannia «Batkivshchyna». Domestic political events were reflected in the party's discourse on social policy, shifting the priorities in the election programs of political forces in the direction of security policy, improving defense capabilities, and fighting corruption. The main tendencies related to the change of political parties' approaches to forming state social policy are revealed. Dominating the liberal approach to social policy issues in parliamentary parties' programs was aimed at reducing the state's role. At the same time, the speeches of political forces on social policy were mostly full of populist slogans and, in most cases, did not contain any specifics, including ways to solve social problems in society. Trying to get as much electoral support as possible, politicians did not bother to develop real program steps in the social sphere. Instead, the social sphere problems, which had a systemic character, were not solved based on a clear "road map" of actions. The discourse of the political parties participating in the election race, which eventually formed the parliament, did not present a comprehensive program for forming and implementing social policy in the new political environment. Keywords: political parties, social policy, social state, Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, political discourse.

The Ideology of Socialism and the Armenian Political Parties

wisdom ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-113
Author(s):  
Gegham HOVHANNISYAN
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Life ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Organizations ◽  
Social Democrats ◽  
Time Period ◽  
The Social ◽  
Political Forces ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
The Given

The article covers the manifestations and peculiarities of the ideology of socialism in the social-political life of Armenia at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. General characteristics, aims and directions of activity of the political organizations functioning in the Armenian reality within the given time-period, whose program documents feature the ideology of socialism to one degree or another, are given (Hunchakian Party, Dashnaktsutyun, Armenian Social-democrats, Specifics, Socialists-revolutionaries). The specific peculiarities of the national-political life of Armenia in the given time-period and their impact on the ideology of political forces are introduced.

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