Performance, leadership, factions and party change: An empirical analysis

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This article reports the first empirical findings based on data from a major study of party change. Hypotheses are developed linking party change to both internal and external factors. The data provide support for the conclusion that electoral performance alone is not sufficient as an explanation for parties’ decisions to change, and that new leaders and/or dominant factions may indeed make a difference. This leads the authors to suggest that ‘the burgeoning field of theoretical and empirical work on party change should focus even more attention on internal decision‐making processes’.