scholarly journals After the Cartel Party: ‘Extra-Party’ and ‘Intra-Party’ Techno-Populism

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 533-544
Author(s):  
Jose Piquer ◽  
Anton M. M. Jäger
Keyword(s):  
Party Systems ◽  
Party Politics ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Institutional Conditions ◽  
Institutional Settings ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Five Star Movement

This article reads the restructuring of European party systems in the 2010s as a transition from cartel to techno-populist parties, with a specific focus on left-populist challengers. Adopting a historical-institutionalist perspective, it demonstrates how a long-term cartelization and particular mode of crisis management after 2008 drove the gradual replacement of the party cartel with a cohabitation of populism and technocratic politics: techno-populism. Although this techno-populist template has been deployed for parties such as Five Star Movement and some right-wing populist outfits, it has usually been left aside for left-wing variants. This article investigates two techno-populist subtypes from the left: Corbynism in the United Kingdom and Podemos in Spain. The former took place within a cartel party (‘intra-party’), while the latter occurred from outside the party cartel (‘extra-party’). Although such party cartelization cuts across cases, the rise of Corbynism and Podemos took place under different institutional conditions: different electoral systems, different European Union membership and different dynamics of party competition on the left. The article concludes with the observation that rather than an anomaly, the presence of techno-populist tropes in and outside of parties and across institutional settings indicates the pervasiveness of these logics in contemporary European party politics.

Party systems and ideological cleavages in the Middle East and North Africa

2020 ◽  
pp. 135406881989429
Author(s):  
Abdullah Aydogan
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
North Africa ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Mena Region ◽  
Quantitative Evidence ◽  
Mena Countries

Previous studies have contrasted the political party systems in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) with those in more democratic countries, raising three important points: (1) the religious–secular dimension, rather than the economic or social left–right, explains the underlying political party competition; (2) left-wing politics is relatively weaker than right-wing politics; and (3) parties that are traditionally known as rightist take left-leaning positions on numerous issue dimensions, and vice versa. Even though this particular literature on party politics in the MENA has greatly improved our understanding of political dynamics in the region, these studies have either lacked quantitative evidence to support these points or their evidence was limited to single-country cases. This study aims to address this issue by analyzing original expert survey data of the ideological positions of political parties in the MENA region. Results show that in addition to the religious–secular dimension, the economic left–right divide and the pace of political reforms are highly important dimensions. The study also provides numerous examples showing that the policy stances of leftist and rightist parties are significantly reversed when MENA countries are compared with more developed democracies.

Housing Prices and Government Approval: The Impact of Housing Booms on Left- and Right-Wing Governments in 16 Advanced Industrialized Countries

2021 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-185
Author(s):  
Sung Min Han ◽  
Mi Jeong Shin
Keyword(s):  
Housing Prices ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Industrialized Countries ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Approval Ratings ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact

AbstractIn this article, we argue that rising housing prices increase voter approval of incumbent governments because such a rise increases personal wealth, which leads to greater voter satisfaction. This effect is strongest under right-wing governments because those who benefit from rising prices—homeowners—are more likely to be right-leaning. Non-homeowners, who are more likely to vote for left-leaning parties, will view rising housing prices as a disadvantage and therefore feel the government does not serve them well, which will mitigate the advantage to left-wing governments. We find support for our arguments using both macro-level data (housing prices and government approval ratings in 16 industrialized countries between 1960 and 2017) and micro-level data (housing prices and individuals’ vote choices in the United Kingdom using the British Household Panel Survey). The findings imply that housing booms benefit incumbent governments generally and right-wing ones in particular.

scholarly journals The Centre Does Not Hold: Coalition Politics and Party System Change in the Netherlands, 2002–12

2016 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Huib Pellikaan ◽  
Sarah L. de Lange ◽  
Tom W.G. van der Meer
Keyword(s):  
Coalition Formation ◽  
Party System ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Radical Right ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Coalition Politics ◽  
Coalition Formation Process ◽  
The Impact

Like many party systems across Western Europe, the Dutch party system has been in flux since 2002 as a result of a series of related developments, including the decline of mainstream parties which coincided with the emergence of radical right-wing populist parties and the concurrent dimensional transformation of the political space. This article analyses how these challenges to mainstream parties fundamentally affected the structure of party competition. On the basis of content analysis of party programmes, we examine the changing configuration of the Dutch party space since 2002 and investigate the impact of these changes on coalition-formation patterns. We conclude that the Dutch party system has become increasingly unstable. It has gradually lost its core through electoral fragmentation and mainstream parties’ positional shifts. The disappearance of a core party that dominates the coalition-formation process initially transformed the direction of party competition from centripetal to centrifugal. However, since 2012 a theoretically novel configuration has emerged in which no party or coherent group of parties dominates competition.

scholarly journals Left and right populism compared: The British case

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 282-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luke March
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Theoretical Point ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Left And Right ◽  
Per Se ◽  
British Case

This article represents one of the few systematic comparisons of left-wing populism with other populisms. Focussing on the manifestos of six British parties in 1999–2015, the findings confirm that left-wing populists are more socio-economically focussed, more inclusionary but less populist than right-wing populists. The article makes four main substantive contributions. First, empirically, it shows that the much-touted populist Zeitgeist in the United Kingdom barely exists. Second, methodologically, it provides a nuanced disaggregated populism scale that has advantages over existing methods because it can effectively distinguish populist from non-populist parties and analyse degrees of populism. Third, theoretically, it shows that host ideology is more important than populism per se in explaining differences between left and right populisms. Fourth is a broader theoretical point: what is often called ‘thin’ or ‘mainstream’ populism’ is not populism but demoticism (closeness to ordinary people). Therefore, analysts should not label parties ‘populist’ just because their rhetoric is demotic.

Political Parties, Regimes, and Social Cleavages

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Riedl
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Party Politics ◽  
Historical Institutionalism ◽  
Social Cleavages ◽  
Historical Approach ◽  
Antecedent Conditions ◽  
Political Outcomes ◽  
Over Time

Historical institutionalism is central to the study of political parties because party creation, competition, and adaptation are fundamentally processes structured over time. In these processes, time and sequence frequently are necessary components of causal arguments in understanding contemporary political outcomes. An historical approach to party politics highlights how, in particular moments, agency and contingency can generate long-term legacies, whereas in other moments party systems are resilient to elite attempts to re-order competition. Historical institutionalist arguments identify the mechanisms that sustain particular outcomes over time, and demonstrate when change occurs, according to which constraints, opportunities, and antecedent conditions.

Home Rule For England, English Nationalism, and Edwardian Debates About Constitutional Reform

2003 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-90
Author(s):  
G. K. Peatling
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
The Body ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Home Rule ◽  
British Identity ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
English Nationalism ◽  
Blair Government ◽  
Constitutional Changes

The body of recent historical explorations of Englishness and Britishness can seem practically interminable. To some, this work is more a cause than a product of the dynamic underlying recent constitutional changes in the United Kingdom. Linda Colley, in particular, is singled out for vituperation by right-wing commentators for an alleged attempt to depict the United Kingdom as “an artificial creation, built from opposition to Frenchmen and Catholics and lacking any form of coherent cultural core,” thus preparing the ground for its wilful destruction by the Blair government. Yet others have suggested that Colley overstated the hegemony of the idea of Britishness among the nations of the United Kingdom. It is contended that British identity penetrated in England to a unique degree, a process which has produced long-term imbalance and instability in the United Kingdom. Tom Nairn thus blamed English arrogance for this instability. For other commentators the historical absence of a tangible demand for English self-government is to be problematized and regarded as an indication of “backwardness.” As Bernard Crick wrote: “England is the problem. Because English nationalism is suppressed and not explicit, it is soured, not wholly in control of its own reactions and is difficult to deal with by the other nations.”

Institutionalization and De-institutionalization in Post-communist Party Systems

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 422-450 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zsolt Enyedi ◽  
Fernando Casal Bértoa
Keyword(s):  
Communist Party ◽  
Party System ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Party Politics ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
The West ◽  
Electoral Volatility ◽  
Lively Debate ◽  
East West

This article is part of the special cluster titled Parties and Democratic Linkage in Post-Communist Europe, guest edited by Lori Thorlakson, and will be published in the August 2018 issue of EEPS In an article written in 1995 titled “What Is Different about Postcommunist Party Systems?” Peter Mair applied the method that he called “ ex adverso extrapolation.” He matched his knowledge of the process of consolidation of party systems in the West with what was known at that time about Eastern European history, society, and the emerging post-communist party politics. Considering factors such as the existence of fluid social structures, the weakness of civil society, or the destabilizing impact of the so-called triple transition, his article predicted long-term instability for the region. In the present article, we evaluate the validity of Mair’s predictions, thereby also contributing to a lively debate in the current literature about the scale and nature of East–West differences and about the trajectories of the two regions. Going beyond the identification of cross-regional similarities and differences, we also differentiate between individual party systems, establish subgroups, and describe changes across time. Using four major dimensions (i.e., party system closure, party-level stability, electoral volatility, and fragmentation), the article finds that Mair’s predictions were largely, though not in every detail, right. Ironically, however, we also find that changes in the West tend to match over time the trajectory of the East.

scholarly journals Conservative Governments and Latin America's Human Rights Landscape

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 113 ◽  
pp. 375-379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Contesse
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Protection Of Human Rights ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Latin American Countries

In 2009, as the American Convention on Human Rights turned forty, Left-wing governments ruled in almost all Latin American countries. The democratization wave that began in the late 1980s had produced a seemingly hegemonic turn to the Left—the so-called “Pink Tide.” A decade later, the political landscape was radically different. With only a few exceptions, Right-wing governments are in power throughout Latin America. The implications of the conservative wave have been felt in a number of areas—including human rights. This essay explores the ways in which the new conservative governments of Latin American have tried to curb the inter-American human rights system and examines the potential long-term consequences that their efforts may have on the regional system and the protection of human rights. It then suggests possible avenues for sound engagement between states and the system, observing that the Inter-American Court's expansive case law may cause more harm in the long run.

European taxation during the crisis: does politics matter?

2012 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 207-230 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanna Lierse
Keyword(s):  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Economic Recession ◽  
Party Politics ◽  
Crisis Response ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Tax Reforms ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
Public Money ◽  
Bail Out

AbstractWith the outbreak of the financial crisis in 2008, European governments extensively intervened to avert a severe economic recession. Taxation is a crucial instrument to achieve such economic objectives, but it also represents a redistributive tool in democratic societies. Generally, left-wing parties are more supportive of progressive taxes and redistribution than right-wing governments. As a crisis response, one could assume that European governments, especially social-democratic ones, reinforced a redistributive stance to compensate for the substantial amounts of public money used to bail out financial institutions. Based on the tax reforms introduced between 2008 and 2010, the paper explores the tax strategies adopted by European governments. The findings do not reveal a direct effect of party politics on taxation but rather show that pressures from the capital markets significantly restrained governments’ policy capacities to act.

How parties compete (1)

2021 ◽  
pp. 105-132
Author(s):  
Paul Webb ◽  
Tim Bale
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Party Politics ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Formal Models ◽  
Liberal Democrats ◽  
Plaid Cymru

This is the first of three chapters that considers how modern parties compete for votes and office. Since most formal models of party competition are based on the strategic use of ideological appeals to electors, it concentrates on describing the ideological stances of the parties in Britain: the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Labour, Greens, UKIP, and the Brexit Party/Reform UK are all covered. (The SNP, Plaid Cymru, and the major parties of Northern Ireland are covered in the course of Chapter 1’s discussion of devolved party systems.) This chapter concludes with a two-dimensional map summarizing the main ideological traditions found in British party politics today.

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