Policy-Related Expertise and Policy Work in Czech Political Parties: Theory and Methods

Abstract

Our aim is to explain a particular theoretical framework to investigate the phenomenon of policy-related expertise and policy work in political parties, to show—using the example of Czech political parties—the construction of a research design and defend the use of specific methods. Political parties in Europe are in a privileged position of policy-making. We are interested in how the political parties generate expertise that is essential for their involvement in the policy-making process. Surprisingly, there has been little study of parties’ internal assumptions and their capacity to generate policy-related expertise. In this chapter, we create a theoretical framework that interconnects theories of political parties and theories of public policy (especially Katz and Mair’s cartel party theory, Harmel and Janda’s integrated theory of party goals and change and Howlett’s concept of policy capacity and policy analytical capacity). We also show possible connections between our research on political parties and existing research of policy work in public administration and NGOs.