A New European Dataset and the Measurement of Party System Closure

The second chapter introduces the dataset of the book, defines its units of measurement, and operationalizes its key concepts. We discuss the method of creating our principal tool of analysis, the composite closure index. We reflect in detail on the question of how experiences accumulated through time can be taken into account when measuring stability. Finally, in a validation exercise, we also investigate whether our closure index could have been used to predict which democracies collapsed around the world between the two World Wars. With this exercise we also show that closure is a better proxy for party system institutionalization than the more traditionally used indicator, the electoral volatility index.

Currently Functioning European Party Systems

This chapter presents the profile and the condensed history of the 41 currently functioning party systems. Here we discuss the dynamics of the changes, and relate them to the ideological configurations and alliance structures. We show that the changes in closure figures indicate well the transformations of party politics, we link developments in the governmental arena to the conflicts in the party system in general, and we associate each party system with a specific trajectory of closure development and a specific party system type. We show how the plurality of currently functioning party systems fit into a bipolar configuration that puts them on track towards a robust path of continuous stabilization until reaching full systemic institutionalization.

Historical (i.e. Defunct) European Party Systems

The fourth chapter presents the profile and the condensed history of the 21 historical party systems that ceased to be democratic. Here we discuss the dynamics of the changes, and relate them to the ideological configurations and alliance structures. We show that the changes in closure figures indicate well the transformations of party politics, we link developments in the governmental arena to the conflicts in the party system in general, and we associate each party system with a specific trajectory of closure development and a specific party system type. We show how, in clear contrast to currently functioning European party systems, the plurality of historical party systems fit into a multi-polar configuration that impeded them from reaching higher levels of systemic stability. Tellingly, we find no instances of consistent growth and high-level stabilization or grand coalitions. Two-party and two-plus-one party systems, so common in currently functioning party systems, were also extremely rare among the collapsed systems.

Survival vs Quality

The final chapter examines the impact of party system closure on the survival as well as the quality of democracy. We consider the question of whether closure is a necessary or sufficient precondition for the survival of democracy, and whether the other often proposed measures of party system stability, especially electoral volatility and parliamentary fragmentation, have a similarly important role. We use various indices to tap the quality of democracy, and we measure the relationship between these indices and closure by considering the intervening role of economic development. We find a special pattern in post-Communist Eastern Europe, indicating that closure can have pernicious consequences under certain conditions.

Conclusion

After comparing the different indicators (i.e. party institutionalization, fragmentation, polarization, volatility and closure) employed in the book, we show how the Cold War period (1945–1989) was exceptionally stable, especially in contrast to the inter-war and post-Berlin Wall periods. We also show how currently the West looks increasingly like the East in terms of the level of party institutionalization, while the East increasingly resembles the West in terms of closure. Actually, the West is becoming more polarized and fragmented than the East. In terms of parliamentary fragmentation, the party systems of the South and the East are converging towards each other, while the West is diverging from the rest of Europe with its increasingly high number of parties. Finally, the chapter summarizes the main findings of the book.

Size Does Matter

The eighth chapter looks into inter-temporal and cross-sectional differences in the effective number of parliamentary parties, and analyses the covariation between closure and fragmentation. The chapter allows us to revisit classical debates in comparative politics about the merits and vices of two- and multi-party systems. After showing how the inter-war and post-Cold War years were more fragmented than other periods, we find that concentrated systems tend to breed stability, and if they do not, then they often do not survive. And yet, there is only a moderate, far from deterministic, relationship between closure and fragmentation. In particular, we found that the recent proliferation of parties in the West poses a challenge to party system institutionalization.

The Logic of Inter-Party Competition and Cooperation

The first chapter lays the foundation for a cooperation-focused way of thinking about party politics. It provides reasons why its analysts should go beyond individual parties and consider blocs of parties. It introduces the concept of poles, as distinct from blocs, and builds a party system typology around them. The second part of the chapter elaborates the concept of party system closure, relating it to the wider notion of party system institutionalization, and identifies its three components: alternation, innovation, and access. The chapter ends by considering the most likely causes and most important political consequences of closure.

From Time to Time

The sixth chapter relates the changes in closure and volatility to general political developments, but it mainly concerns itself with opposing the birth year of party systems to their age. Of course, within the group of currently existing systems these two coincide, but if one adds to the pool historical cases, then one can investigate whether those systems were more closed that were established earlier, or those which had a higher age. We check the importance of these two features not only for closure but also for volatility. While we question the ability of the volatility index to tap systemic features of party politics, we consider it as a relevant indicator of demand-side stability. By relating volatility to closure, the chapter reveals how the demand and supply sides of party politics, the electoral and governmental arenas, connect to each other.

The Whole Is More than the Sum of the Parts

The seventh chapter establishes a theoretical distinction between the party- and the systemic-level analysis of party politics. We introduce new measures of party institutionalization, describe cross-temporal and cross-regional trends, and establish the degree of covariance between closure and party institutionalization. Even though there are many indications that high closure presupposes continuously existing, well-organized parties, we identify countries in which parties are highly institutionalized but the system is not, and cases where parties are relatively weak, but the system can be considered to be strong. The chapter shows how party institutionalization and closure (party system institutionalization) differ from each other. For the recent period, the former shows a steeply declining trend in Europe, while the latter is decreasing only marginally.

Introduction

On New Year’s Day 1993 Czechoslovakia was dissolved, giving place to two new European countries, Czechia and Slovakia. Czechs and Slovaks lived under Habsburg rule for centuries, then, between 1918 and 1938 and between 1945 and 1993, under a common state. Their coexistence, their shared culture and their common experience of Communism provided them with a similar background for the development of democratic party politics. Their new political institutions (parliamentarism, proportional electoral system, etc.) and their membership in the European Union (EU) after 2004 enhanced the forces of convergence. Yet, in the mid-2000s the Czechs were considered to have one of the most stable party systems in post-Communist Europe, while the Slovaks had a rather chaotic party landscape....