Momentum vs. Labour’s Bureaucracy

The creation of Corbynist organization Momentum was the way in which the wave of socialist revival in the UK tried to take an organizational form and work toward the transformation of the Labour party. The first-past-the-post system meant that the only realistic option for socialists was working within the existing mainstream left party, while at the same time developing a parallel structure to mobilize youth supporters suspicious of bureaucratic structures. However, as I argue in this article, ultimately the stubbornness of the Labour party bureaucracy used as a defensive redoubt by party centrists managed to successfully fend off attempts for deep party reforms, and once Corbyn resigned it was easy for centrists to undo the change in the internal balance of forces. The failure of the Corbyn movement in overcoming these difficulties highlights how party organization constitutes a strategic bottleneck for all transformative movements, and that the only way to reclaim existing parties is to radically reshape them as a matter of priority.

Euroscepticism as a radical left party strategy for success

The European Union has gained salience as an issue in political debate. Recent literature shows that successful radical right-wing parties are frequently in opposition to European integration. This article looks at how radical left-wing parties’ positions on EU integration affect their electoral support. It argues that radical left parties can mobilize voters in their favour through positioning in opposition to EU integration because this allows voters to combine their left-wing economic and anti-EU preferences. Using expert and individual-level survey data, this research demonstrates that radical left-wing parties that position themselves against EU integration are more likely to gain individuals’ vote choice. This finding is surprising, given that traditionally radical left-wing parties are defined through their economic, rather than their non-economic, positions. This article demonstrates that variation in positioning around non-economic issues such as EU integration can explain differences in voter support across radical left-wing parties.

Norway: Towards a More Permissive Coalitional Order

Consensus, collegiality, and compromise still characterize Norwegian coalition governance, but important shifts in the formation, composition, and operation of Norwegian coalitions have taken place since the 1990s. An increasingly permissive Norwegian parliamentarism has facilitated the entry of previously non-coalitionable parties, such as the Socialist Left Party and the Progress Party, into government coalitions in 2005 and 2013, respectively. Also, small parties have begun to punch well above their weight in the allocation of ministerial portfolios, as in the case of the Liberal Party in 2001, which with only two MPs negotiated three cabinet seats. The chapter further demonstrates how Norwegian coalitions increasingly have appointed so-called cross-partisan junior ministers, mainly to provide cross-partisan advice, but also to be watchdogs for their respective parties. Finally, the use of the so-called cabinet sub-committee, normally comprising the leaders of each of the coalition parties, escalated in the 2000s. This sub-committee was designed to solve the most serious inter-party conflicts and became an important vehicle of conflict resolution under prime ministers Bondevik and Stoltenberg.

Loss rewritten: Olivia and Jack, the language of letters, and the rhetoric of the loser

This paper considers the discursive strategies deployed in Olivia Chow’s 2014 Toronto mayoral concession speech in comparison to those of the Letter to Canadians penned by Jack Layton in 2011, and the resulting influence on her electoral trajectory as a pol. Layton’s letter was published shortly after the New Democratic Party’s (NDP) Federal electoral surge to Official Opposition status, a first for the far-Left party in Canadian history, and would serve as an New Democratic ideological keystone. Chow’s rhetoric invoked Layton’s words and the historical circumstances of their authorship. This project explores the relationship between public address and political epistolary traditions, and the narrative bond they create between author and speaker, and reader and audience. Most specifically it considers how an intertextuality between Chow and Layton’s documents contribute to political ethos and the greater progressive ideological narrative to which they both belong. Theorists discussed in substantial measure include Allen (2000), Corcoran (1994), Hall (2009), Neville-Shepard (2014), Parrish (1954), Rabinowitz (1987), and Weaver (1982).

Loss rewritten: Olivia and Jack, the language of letters, and the rhetoric of the loser

This paper considers the discursive strategies deployed in Olivia Chow’s 2014 Toronto mayoral concession speech in comparison to those of the Letter to Canadians penned by Jack Layton in 2011, and the resulting influence on her electoral trajectory as a pol. Layton’s letter was published shortly after the New Democratic Party’s (NDP) Federal electoral surge to Official Opposition status, a first for the far-Left party in Canadian history, and would serve as an New Democratic ideological keystone. Chow’s rhetoric invoked Layton’s words and the historical circumstances of their authorship. This project explores the relationship between public address and political epistolary traditions, and the narrative bond they create between author and speaker, and reader and audience. Most specifically it considers how an intertextuality between Chow and Layton’s documents contribute to political ethos and the greater progressive ideological narrative to which they both belong. Theorists discussed in substantial measure include Allen (2000), Corcoran (1994), Hall (2009), Neville-Shepard (2014), Parrish (1954), Rabinowitz (1987), and Weaver (1982).

Oppositionsverhalten in den Plenardebatten zum Migrationspakt: Der „Neue Dualismus“ auf dem Prüfstand

In the 19th election period, the Alternative for Germany entered the German Bundestag for the first time . Being the largest opposition party, it is conspicuous for its aggressive and provocative behaviour . The smaller and established opposition parties FDP, Left Party, and Greens appear occasionally to distance themselves from their opposition colleague by form­ing an alliance together with the government with the purpose of challenging the far-right populist opposition party . By performing a case study analyzing plenary debates regarding the Global Compact for Migration, utilizing content and frequency analytic methods we study opposition party behaviour with regard to conflict patterns . The findings suggest that the “new dualism” between the governing majority and the opposition is supplemented by the confrontation between established parties and the AfD .

Die sachsen-anhaltische Landtagswahl vom 6. Juni 2021: Die Mitte ist stabil

The clear winner of the state election in Saxony-Anhalt on June 6, 2021 was the CDU, which was well ahead of the AfD . The FDP, which managed to re-enter the state parliament, was also among the election winners . The big loser was the Left Party, which achieved the worst result in Saxony-Anhalt’s history . The election’s decisive result factor was the extraordinarily high popularity of Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff (CDU), who benefit­ed from his incumbency bonus across party lines . Not only did the citizens hardly know the other leading candidates; moreover the CDU was perceived as having strong problem­solving competence for the dominant issues of Corona and in other relevant policy areas . Likewise, the CDU and Haseloff’s strategy to clearly distinguish themselves from the AfD and the Left was successful . Since Prime Minister Haseloff wanted a stable government for the state, a tripartite alliance was the only option . Due to the conflicts between the CDU and the Greens in the previously ruling so-called Kenya coalition (black, red, green), the CDU chose the FDP as a new coalition partner alongside the SPD, and more than three months after the election a so-called Germany coalition (black, red, yellow) was concluded .

The Left in Peru: A Long Way to the Top

The article examines the historical evolution of the left movement in Peru. Due to specific conditions, Peruvian left could not manage to achieve stable political positions in the government for long time. The causes of this phenomena and new trends in the political processes in the Andean state stipulate the relevance of this study. In 2021, the candidate from the left party Pedro Castillo has won the presidential elections. The research proves that in the context of weakness of a political tradition and collapse of ideological solidarity, the implementation of the left-wing project will face extreme difficulties.