Podemos’ and Ciudadanos’ multi-level institutionalization challenges

Abstract

So far, the party institutionalization literature has not properly analysed the challenges posed by the multi-level nature of many Western democracies to new parties’ institutionalization processes. The aim of this article is to introduce a theoretical framework combining both internal (e.g. party origins, party branch autonomy) and external factors (e.g. cross-level contamination, electoral threshold) to better understand this phenomenon. We hypothesize that through the formative stage and cross-level contamination the party institutionalization processes at the national and regional level will be aligned. They will also be stronger in those regions with better electoral performance and higher levels of branch autonomy. These expectations are then illustrated through the comparative analysis of the origins of the Podemos and Ciudadanos parties and their early evolution in Spain. The main results point out that national and regional institutionalization processes are evolving in the same direction, although not at the same pace. They also suggest that the electoral threshold and the autonomy of the regional branch might also be shaping the way both parties are developing in different regions.