scholarly journals The Asymmetrical Effect of Polarization on Support for Independence: The Case of Catalonia

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 412-425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Rodríguez-Teruel ◽  
Astrid Barrio
Keyword(s):  
Party System ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Horizontal Polarization ◽  
Party Strategies ◽  
Asymmetrical Effect ◽  
Political Effects ◽  
National Question ◽  
Logistic Regressions ◽  
Mass Level

The article analyses the consequences of elite polarization at the mass level in the centre-periphery dimension. We analyse the rapid rise in support for independence in Catalonia, focusing on the role of party competition around the centre-periphery cleavage. We argue that mainstream actors’ adoption of centrifugal party strategies with respect to the national question produced a polarizing dynamic in the party system that eventually caused voters’ attitudes regarding the centre-periphery issue to harden. Indeed, we posit that this increase in mass polarization was a consequence of party agency that subsequently helped to drive attitudes regarding independence. To test this hypothesis, we measure centre-periphery polarization (as perceived by voters) by adopting two different perspectives—inter-party distances (horizontal polarization) and party-voter distances (vertical polarization)—and then run logistic regressions to explain support for independence. The findings show an asymmetrical effect on polarization. While the centrifugal strategy implemented by Catalan regionalist parties paved the way for a radicalization of voters on the Catalan nationalist side, among voters for non-regionalist parties, attitudes towards independence were initially less conditioned by this polarization. The results provide evidence of the political effects of elite polarization.

Smaller Parties

2020 ◽  
pp. 300-319
Author(s):  
Alistair Clark
Keyword(s):  
Party System ◽  
Final Section ◽  
Senior Citizens ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Comparative Perspective ◽  
Socialist Party ◽  
Liberal Democrats ◽  
Theoretical Issues ◽  
Over Time

Small parties in Scotland have played a number of roles in the post-devolution party system. In some areas they have been trailblazers for broader developments, whilst in others they have met some success but had little longer impact. Understanding this is crucial for a broader understanding of party competition and the Scottish party system. The first section of the chapter addresses thorny theoretical issues around what counts as a ‘small’ party, and the relation between smallness and relevance. The second section discusses key small parties that have had some level of success in Scotland. These include the Greens, Scottish Socialist Party, UKIP, Scottish Senior Citizens Unity Party, and the ‘Others’ who have also been successfully elected in Scotland, including the Liberal Democrats, given their changing fortunes over time. The final section considers reasons for the rise of smaller parties, whilst examining the broader effect on the Scottish party system and putting Scotland into comparative perspective in relation to the role of small parties.

Party Systems: Types, Dimensions, and Explanations

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zsolt Enyedi ◽  
Fernando Casal Bértoa
Keyword(s):  
Party System ◽  
Balance Of Power ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
System Stability ◽  
Informal Institution ◽  
Democratic Experience ◽  
The Stability

The study of political parties and party systems is intimately linked to the development of modern political science. The configuration of party competition varies across time and across polities. In order to capture this variance, one needs to go beyond the analysis of individual parties and to focus on their numbers (i.e. fragmentation), their interactions (i.e. closure), the prevailing ideological patterns (i.e. polarization), and the stability of the balance of power (i.e. volatility) in all spheres of competition, including the electoral, parliamentary, and governmental arenas. Together, these factors constitute the core informal institution of modern politics: a party system. The relevant scholarship relates the stability of party systems to the degree of the institutionalization of individual parties, to various institutional factors such as electoral systems, to sociologically anchored structures such as cleavages, to economic characteristics of the polity (primarily growth), to historical legacies (for example, the type of dictatorship that preceded competitive politics) and to the length of democratic experience and to the characteristics of the time when democracy was established. The predictability of party relations has been found to influence both the stability of governments and the quality of democracy. However, still a lot is to be learned about party systems in Africa or Asia, the pre-WWII era or in regional and/or local contexts. Similarly, more research is needed regarding the role of colonialism or how party system stability affects policy-making. As far as temporal change is concerned, we are witnessing a trend towards the destabilization of party systems, but the different indicators show different dynamics. It is therefore crucial to acknowledge that party systems are complex, multifaceted phenomena.

Parties as Agents of Transition

2019 ◽  
pp. 580-584
Author(s):  
Saara Inkinen
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Party System ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Science Literature ◽  
Party Strategies ◽  
Collective Actors ◽  
Autocratic Regime ◽  
Autocratic Regimes

This chapter reviews recent political science literature on the role of political parties and party systems in regime transition processes. The first part focuses on parties as collective actors, discussing the effects of different regime and opposition party strategies on the liberalization and breakdown of autocratic regimes. It also notes how such strategies may be shaped by autocratic regime subtypes and the internal organization of political parties. The second part goes on to consider party systems as an institutional arena that constrains party interactions. It examines arguments linking democratization to the institutionalization and type of autocratic party system, with an emphasis on competitive and hegemonic autocratic regimes. Directions for further research are provided in the conclusion.

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 Political Leadership and Popular Consent: Party Strategies in Bolivia, 1880–1899

1997 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 395-423
Author(s):  
Marta Irurozqui
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Party System ◽  
Historical Period ◽  
Pacific War ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Party Strategies ◽  
Political Party System ◽  
Popular Consent

The governmental era of the Bolivian conservative parties—Constitutional, Democrat, and Conservative—encompasses the historical period from Bolivia’s withdrawal from the Pacific War (1880), which saw a Peruvian-Bolivian alliance against Chile, to the outbreak of the Federal War of 1899 between conservatives and liberals. Within this period of infighting lies the genesis of the Bolivian political party system. With the establishment of a truce in 1880 between Chile and Bolivia, without which Bolivia would have had to definitively withdraw from the conflict and break its Peruvian alliance, two positions arose concerning a resolution of the conflict: the continuation of the war or peace. These polar solutions adhered to the first ideological substratum of the Bolivian political parties, making it possible to define the various factions of the elite in light of the new political restructuring and the role of the State.

scholarly journals Multi-Party As The Most Important Condition For The Development Of Democracy In Uzbekistan

2020 ◽  
Vol 02 (11) ◽  
pp. 309-313
Author(s):  
Rasulova Nodira Sardarovna ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Party ◽  
Party System ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Important Condition

The article analyzes concepts such as a political party, multi-party system, inter-party competition, the positive aspects of the multi-party system, the role of political parties in society, the reasons and factors for the emergence of shortcomings in the activities of political parties in Uzbekistan.

scholarly journals Which Matters Most: Party Strategic Exit or Voter Strategic Voting? A Laboratory Experiment

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Damien Bol ◽  
André Blais ◽  
Simon Labbé St-Vincent
Keyword(s):  
Laboratory Experiment ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Party System ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Strategic Voting ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Plurality Rule ◽  
Respective Role

There is abundant empirical evidence that the plurality rule constrains party competition and favors two-party systems. This reduction of party system fragmentation may be due to parties deciding not to enter elections for which they are not viable and/or voters voting strategically. Yet, no prior research has attempted to estimate the respective role of parties and voters in this process. To fill this gap, we conducted a unique laboratory experiment where some subjects played the role of parties and others played the role of voters, and where the two were able to respond to each other just as in real-life elections. We find that the reduction due to party strategic exit is higher than that due to strategic voting. We conclude that parties play a key role in the effect of the plurality rule on party system fragmentation.

Party System

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zaad Mahmood
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Party System ◽  
Political Competition ◽  
Group Analysis ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
Market Reforms ◽  
Intermediate Variable ◽  
Labour Market Flexibility ◽  
Labour Market Reforms ◽  
The Impact

The chapter discusses the party system in the macro context of politics. It highlights the limitations of political party and interest group analysis without reference to the political competition that shapes behaviour in politics. The chapter discusses theoretically the impact of party system on labour market flexibility and proceeds to show the interrelation between party competition and the behaviour of political parties, composition of socio-economic support bases, and the behaviour of interest groups that influence reform. In the context of labour market flexibility, the party-system operates as an intermediate variable facilitating reforms. The chapter contradicts the conventional notion that party system fragmentation impedes reform by showing how increasing party competition corresponds to greater labour market reforms. It shows that increases in the number of parties, facilitates labour market reforms through marginalization of the issue of labour, realignment of class interests within broader society and fragmentation of trade union movement.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document