Explaining legislative party switching in advanced and new democracies

Abstract

The phenomenon of legislative party switching has attracted considerable attention among scholars. Studies show that parties are likely to experience defections if they are unable to offer their legislators electoral, office and policy benefits. While often deemed a symptom of a weakly institutionalized party system, switching may also be frequent in established democracies. Yet, surprisingly, we have no empirical evidence to help us understand whether party benefits that drive switchers are different in established democracies and new democracies. I argue that parties that fail to provide their members with re-election prospects or government access are likely to witness switching only in new democracies. In advanced democracies, switching is likely to be associated with ideological identity and policy motives. The statistical analysis of party switching across 25 European advanced and post-communist democracies confirms my expectations.