Languages, secessionism and party competition in Catalonia: A case of de-ethnicising outbidding?

2020 ◽  
pp. 135406882096038
Author(s):  
Marc Sanjaume-Calvet ◽  
Elvira Riera-Gil
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
National Identities ◽  
Territorial Conflict ◽  
Party Strategies ◽  
Official Languages ◽  
Ethnic Competition ◽  
Regional Elections ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Nationalist Parties

This article explores party strategies in electoral competition in Catalonia in order to test the existence of ethnic outbidding ( Chandra, 2005 ; Zuber and Szöcsik, 2015 ). We contribute with original findings on this case by addressing the evolution of political parties’ discourses through a qualitative analysis of their manifestos for the last five regional elections campaigns (2006–2017), covering a period of strong territorial conflict between Catalonia and Spain. Our analysis aims to measure the impact of secessionism growth on parties’ ethnic competition in Catalonia and compares the strategies of secessionist, federalist and centralist parties. In order to measure ethnicity, we focus on language, the most salient identity marker in Catalan politics, and link the evolution of parties’ territorial positions to that of their treatment of national identities and the Catalan and Castilian languages – both official languages in Catalonia – in their manifestos. Our findings include diverse strategies that do not entirely fit in with ethnic competition theories. First, we find that territorial outbidding does not always imply ethnic outbidding: political parties generally do not use the main identity marker in Catalonia (language) for outbidding purposes. Second, we find some evidence of ethnic outbidding in majority nationalist parties, but not in minority nationalist parties.

scholarly journals Power to the Parties: Cohesion and Competition in the European Parliament, 1979–2001

2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
SIMON HIX ◽  
ABDUL NOURY ◽  
GÉRARD ROLAND
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Total Population ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Roll Call ◽  
Party Cohesion ◽  
The Impact

How cohesive are political parties in the European Parliament? What coalitions form and why? The answers to these questions are central for understanding the impact of the European Parliament on European Union policies. These questions are also central in the study of legislative behaviour in general. We collected the total population of roll-call votes in the European Parliament, from the first elections in 1979 to the end of 2001 (over 11,500 votes). The data show growing party cohesion despite growing internal national and ideological diversity within the European party groups. We also find that the distance between parties on the left-right dimension is the strongest predictor of coalition patterns. We conclude that increased power of the European Parliament has meant increased power for the transnational parties, via increased internal party cohesion and inter-party competition.

scholarly journals The Europeanisation of Slovak Political Parties

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dušan Leška
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Party System ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Stages Of Development ◽  
Association Agreement ◽  
Government Relations ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The aim of the study is to analyse the Europeanisation of Slovak political parties in the various stages of the transition and transformation of the political system of Slovakia before and after the entry into the European Union. Methodologically, the paper is based on the concept of Ladrech, who divided five areas of research to suit the study of the impact of the Europeanisation on political parties and their politics. Visible can be changes in political programmes, organisational changes, a formula of party competition, relations between parties and government, relations beyond the national party system (a new look at transnational cooperation between political parties). Our research proved that the Europeanisation has been visible at all stages of development, with varying degrees of intensity and in various forms since the signing of the association agreement with the European Union. Its effect was important already in the stage of the society transition when it helped the return of Slovakia on the path of democratic development. In the two stages of development, Europeanisation created an individual line of cleavage of political parties, affected the rivalry of political parties, and thus a party system model. Unambiguously, it was reflected in political programmes of all parties, and an important role was played by the incorporation of political parties in the European political parties, by their cooperation and coordination of their policies. The election in the European Parliament was an important turning point in completion of programme orientations of political parties.

POLITICAL SPACES, DIMENSIONALITY DECLINE AND PARTY COMPETITION

2013 ◽  
Vol 16 (06) ◽  
pp. 1350019 ◽  
Author(s):  
CÉSAR GARCÍA-DÍAZ ◽  
GILMAR ZAMBRANA-CRUZ ◽  
ARJEN VAN WITTELOOSTUIJN
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Dimensionality Reduction ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Relative Importance ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Large Size ◽  
Mortality Hazard ◽  
Party Strategies ◽  
The Mean

We built a computational model of political party competition in order to gain insight into the effect of the decrease in the number of relevant political issues (dimensions), and the change of their relative importance, on the number of surviving political parties, their strategy performance, and the degree of political party fragmentation. Particularly, we find that when there is a dimensionality reduction (i.e., a change from a two-dimensional issue space to a one-dimensional one, or, a substantial decrement in one of the issue's relative importance with respect to the other), the number of political parties declines, as does the overall degree of party fragmentation in the system. Regarding party strategies, we observe that, after the dimensionality reduction, (i) the inert parties tend to improve their performance in terms of party numbers (i.e., more inert parties survive, relatively speaking); (ii) the population of large-size seekers declines, (iii) the few large-size seeker survivors, in general, cushion their increased mortality hazard with increased size (i.e., increased number of supporters); and, finally, (iv) the mortality hazard increases with distance to the mean voter spot.

Discourse Analysis: Kinship Politics in the 2020 Regional Head Election

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-40
Author(s):  
Moch Edward Trias Pahlevi ◽  
Azka Abdi Amrurobbi ◽  
Bambang Eka Cahya Widodo
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Online Media ◽  
Constitutional Court ◽  
Legal Rules ◽  
Media Reports ◽  
Dynastic Politics ◽  
Regional Elections ◽  
The Impact

After the issuance of the Constitutional Court Decision No.33 / PUU-Xlll / 2015 as the cancellation of the ban on dynastic politics, a number of candidates from the incumbent's relatives advanced in the direct Pilkada and mushroomed up to the 2020 regional elections. The occurrence of kinship politics is not only seen in terms of regulation, but the rise of kinship politics is also due to problems in political parties in carrying out the political recruitment function. This study seeks to analyze the findings of the online media reported in Kompas and Tempo. This study uses qualitative methods and uses Nvivo 12 Plus in processing data. In this study, it is explained that the factors for the formation of dynastic politics from online media coverage of Kompas dominantly explains the recruitment of political parties which are less democratic, while Tempo online media dominantly explains that the supporting factors for the formation of kinship politics are party recruitment, family support, and weak legal rules. In addition, the impact of kinship politics from the analysis of Kompas online media reports is the creation of corrupt behaviour and damaging the bureaucratic order. Meanwhile, the impact of kinship politics from the analysis of Tempo online media is the decline in the quality of democracy and damage to the structure of the party. This type of research used in this research is qualitative research. The analysis used in this paper is descriptive analysis. Analysis was performed using the Nvivo 12 plus software.

Tied hands? Italian political parties and Europe

Modern Italy ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolò Conti
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Party System ◽  
Electoral Competition ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Disruptive Effect ◽  
European Elections ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

Italian political parties have been involved for almost three decades in a multi-level electoral game encompassing the election of national, supranational and local institutions. The content of the electoral competition has also changed to include not only nationwide, but also sub-national and supranational issues. This article analyses the interaction between Italian parties and the theme of European integration. The aim is to explore the role of contentious European Union matters in domestic electoral competition, specifically at the time of European elections. Such a role is important to understand to what extent the Italian parties politicise the EU issues during EP elections, and to determine the impact of such issues on the Italian party system and on its patterns of policy competition. In particular, the article will explore whether Europe as an issue has been internalised along the main patterns of party competition or has produced a disruptive effect and forms of realignment.

scholarly journals Ethnic party competition beyond the segmented market

2012 ◽  
Vol 40 (6) ◽  
pp. 927-944 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Isabel Zuber
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Design ◽  
Ethnic Politics ◽  
Power Sharing ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Ethnic Parties ◽  
Party Strategies ◽  
Segmented Market ◽  
Ethnic Competition ◽  
Ethnic Divide

The outbidding model of ethnic politics focuses on party competition in an ethnically perfectly segmented electoral market where no party appeals to voters across the ethnic divide. The power sharing model retains this assumption, yet tries to prevent outbidding through moderation-inducing institutional design. Empirically, imperfectly segmented electoral markets and variance of ethnic party strategies beyond radical outbidding have been observed. To provide a stepping stone towards a more complete theory of ethnic party competition, this article introduces the notion of nested competition, defined as party competition in an imperfectly segmented market where some — but not all — parties make offers across ethnic divides and where competition in intra-ethnic arenas is nested within an inter-ethnic arena of party competition. The notion of nested competition helps explain why ethnic outbidding is not omnipresent in contemporary multi-ethnic democracies. A moderate position on the ethnic dimension that appears inauspicious from the perspective of intra-ethnic competition can turn into the strategically superior choice once ethnic parties take the whole system of competitive interactions within intra- and inter-ethnic arenas into account. A case study of nested competition for Hungarian votes in the Vojvodina region of Northern Serbia illustrates the conceptual innovations.

Do Party Systems Count?

2004 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 152-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pradeep Chhibber ◽  
Irfan Nooruddin
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Public Goods ◽  
State Government ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Government Performance ◽  
Indian States ◽  
The Impact

Delivery of public goods varies significantly across the Indian states. This article argues that differences in state government expenditures are largely the result of differences in their party systems. Using macroeconomic data from 1967 to 1997 as well as postelection voter surveys, we demonstrate that states with two-party competition provide more public goods than states with multiparty competition, which, we argue, reflects differing mobilization strategies. In two-party systems, political parties require support from many social groups and therefore provide public goods to win elections. In multiparty systems, needing only a plurality of votes to win, parties use club, rather than public, goods to mobilize smaller segments of the population. In stressing the impact of party systems on state government performance in India, this article differs from recent political economy research, which has stressed either the effect of particular political parties or ethnic divisions on government performance and public goods delivery.

Mapping the Demos: The Scientisation of the Political, Electoral Research and Dutch Political Parties, c. 1900–1980

2016 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
WIM DE JONG ◽  
HARM KAAL
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Identity Formation ◽  
Political Identity ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
The Political ◽  
Mass Psychology ◽  
Party Strategies ◽  
Social Scientific ◽  
The Impact

The ‘scientisation of the political’, understood as the increasing influence of social science within twentieth century (party) politics, provides insight into politicians’ conceptions of political representation and the shifts in those conceptions over time. Social science based knowledge exerted a profound effect on how parties approached political identity formation and on their perceptions of the electorate. Based on a Dutch case study, this article tracks the impact of electoral geography and mass psychology and, from the 1940s onwards, electoral research and polling data on party strategies, showing the important role played by party political think tanks which acted as hubs of social-scientific knowledge. Comparisons with British and West German political parties reveal the complex reception and negotiation of social scientific insights regarding the nature and behaviour of the electorate, as well as the persistence of ingrained stereotypes.

scholarly journals Party competition and political representation in crisis

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolò Conti ◽  
Swen Hutter ◽  
Kyriaki Nanou
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Representation ◽  
Political Conflict ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Southern Europe ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Policy Agendas ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Empirical Material

The aim of the special issue is to investigate through a comparative lens the impact of the recent economic crisis and consequent austerity measures on party competition and political representation in Europe. All six contributions focus on the substance of political conflict and provide new insights about the impact of the crisis on (a) the policy agendas of political parties, (b) the relationship between government and opposition parties, and (c) how citizens’ preferences are represented by political parties. Theoretically, the contributions link the literatures on party competition, responsiveness, agenda-setting, and social movements. Empirically, they provide new empirical material, in particular on the countries in Southern Europe which were hard hit by the crisis. The introduction presents the rationale of the special issue and summarizes the focus and findings of the six contributions.

scholarly journals Selective Deafness of Political Parties: Strategic Responsiveness to Media, Protest and Real-World Signals on Immigration in Belgian Parliament

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruud Wouters ◽  
Julie Sevenans ◽  
Rens Vliegenthart
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Real World ◽  
Agenda Setting ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Media Attention ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Protest Activity

Abstract How do political parties react to different signals from society indicating the saliency of a particular social problem? Are all parties equally responsive to all signals or do certain signals prove more effective in engaging some parties than others? We address these questions from an agenda-setting perspective. In particular, we investigate how media attention, protest activity and real-world signals shape parties’ attention for immigration in the federal parliament of Belgium. A time series model suggests that media attention, protest activity and real-world indicators all increase parliamentary attention as measured by weekly oral questions. More detailed models show the impact of these signals to differ across parties. Media attention and protest activity engage left wing parties, whereas asylum applications drive political action of the party delivering the responsible secretary. Far-right parties, finally, react both to media attention and real-world indicators. We conclude that political parties are ‘selectively deaf’; they act (or do not act) strategically upon incoming signals, depending on whether the signal fits their political goals or not. This article contributes to agenda-setting research by including multiple societal signals in its research design and by focusing on party characteristics and party competition to disentangle the conditionality of various agenda-setting effects.

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