Why has Europe become the concentration area of multi-party states: A novel explanatory model of multifactorial mechanism

Abstract

The existence of a multi-party system is one of the most important criterion for assessing the degree of democratization of a state. In contemporary democratic republics, the multi-party system has become a formalistic representation. However, in Europe, the de facto multi-party systems are extensively retained, making Europe a veritable concentration area of multi-party states. This research delved into the phenomenon and conducted a qualitative comparative analysis on the cases of 44 European countries to explore the factors contributing to multi-party states’ agglomeration in Europe. The findings demonstrate a novel explanatory model of multifactorial mechanism of Europe becoming the concentration area of multi-party states, whose solution coverage is 0.7 and solution consistency is 0.954545. According to the model, a developed country with a tradition of parliamentary government is more likely to possess a well-established multi-party system in a non-religious environment. High levels of educational attainment and political participation of the population allow a multi-party system to emerge and continue. Furthermore, the model indicates that a strong Christian culture hinders the development of multi-party systems to some extent, while economy growth has a direct and positive relationship with the formation and continuation of multi-party systems.