Dominant Party Research Articles

The Sovietization of Azerbaijan: Historical Perspective

The Sovietization of Azerbaijan, spanning from the early 1920s to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, was a transformative period that significantly impacted the country's political, social, economic, and cultural landscape. This paper explores the multifaceted process of Sovietization and its enduring legacy on Azerbaijan's development. Politically, Sovietization entailed the establishment of authoritarian rule, characterized by one-party dominance and the suppression of political dissent. Socially, it led to both advancements in education and healthcare and the suppression of cultural and religious freedoms, contributing to tensions within Azerbaijani society. Economically, Sovietization fostered the development of heavy industry and infrastructure but also resulted in environmental degradation and economic inefficiencies. Understanding the complexities of Sovietization is crucial for comprehending contemporary Azerbaijani realities and ongoing efforts towards political reform, economic development, and social progress.

Wealth, power, and authoritarian institutions: comparing dominant parties and parliaments in Tanzania and Uganda

Wealth, power, and authoritarian institutions: comparing dominant parties and parliaments in Tanzania and Uganda

Conceptualizing National Security in an Era of Great Power Rivalry: Implications for International Economic Law

AbstractUntil recently, the national security exception in investment and trade was understood in terms of defense against military invasion or attack and possibly extendable to economic collapse. However, national security is increasingly understood far beyond the classical contours of territorial integrity. Driven primarily by the China-U.S. hegemonic competition, the new conceptualization is exemplified in a dramatic expansion in U.S. investment and trade measures based upon conceptualizing national security as encompassing threats to a fusion of interrelated spheres of national strength including economic, technological, and ideological power. Moreover, the U.S. now understands security as the retention of superiority in an array of power spheres and encompasses denying China access to emerging technologies. China has similarly expanded her definition of security which is often referenced as “national interests” and embraces political stability (Party dominance), social stability, ideological security, and the defense of Chinese overseas interests, all of which lie far outside the classical definition of security. The untethered expansion in both the U.S. and Chinese conceptualization of security raises significant ramifications for the international economic architecture. As the guardrails of security are abandoned in pursuit of policy goals, a potentially overly broad and excessive notion of security risks deepening several overlapping perils to the current international legal landscape. The focus of this article is on the expansion of the national security exception in investment and trade and potential implications arising from an unfettered expansion.

Explaining Party Switching in an Institutionalised Party System: The Case of South Africa

Institutionalised party systems are said to foster stronger party allegiances and fewer switches. However, this expectation is called into question when we observe the case of South Africa. Despite being characterised by a highly institutionalised dominant party system as well as party-centred electoral and candidate selection rules, South Africa has experienced frequent episodes of floor-crossing over time. This article advances an analytical framework that links elites’ vote-seeking and office-seeking incentives to party switching and party system functioning. It posits that as elites strive for (re)selection and (re-)election, they will depart from smaller to larger parties, and this ultimately reinforces the party system of the day. Utilising an original dataset of 5,230 candidates to the National Assembly and the provincial legislatures of South Africa between 1999 and 2019, the study charts the overall rate of party switching and tests hypotheses postulating the effect of party size and candidates’ electoral marginality on the likelihood of switching parties. The analyses reveal that candidates from smaller parties and those who failed to be (re-)elected by the narrowest margin are more likely to switch parties in the next election. Additionally, most candidates who switched parties tended to move to parties that fared better than their original party in the next election; and they switched from parties that either did worse or stayed the same. But we did not find a strong correlation linking party performance to switches. The study highlights the role of intra-party competition in patterns of elite migration and reveals the importance of linking elite behaviour to party system functioning.

Does Proportionality Increase Turnout? A Study of Adaptation to Oscillating Electoral Systems

Does proportionality increase turnout? This article studies a national electoral reform in early twentieth-century Argentina that was implemented asymmetrically across districts, creating a natural laboratory in which some districts oscillated between electoral systems across elections. Leveraging this unusual variation in a difference-in-differences design, this article shows that a shift from multi-member plurality rules towards a slightly more proportional system—which removed one-third of the contested seats from the grasp of the dominant party—led to a four percentage point increase in turnout. An investigation into causal mechanisms indicates that more proportional rules, by increasing the odds that smaller parties obtain seats, promoted strategic party entry and intensified electoral competition, both between and within parties. These findings complement existing quasi-experimental results that focus exclusively on elections in European democracies, confirm that parties are able to adapt immediately to changes in electoral rules, and refute the belief that proportionality does not affect turnout in Latin America.

Why we should think about democratic frontsliding as well as democratic backsliding

For the past decade or so, we have been worrying about democratic backsliding – movement toward autocratic rule in nations that we thought were stably democratic. Our attention to backsliding may have distracted us, though, from another important phenomenon – front-sliding, so to speak. If backsliding is a move from democracy toward autocracy, frontsliding is a move from autocracy to democracy. Professors Dan Slater and Joseph Wong’s important book From Development to Democracy offers an elegant argument that sometimes autocrats themselves initiate movement toward democracy even when they are not facing imminent collapse. They show how dominant political parties in South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan gave up a seeming guarantee of remaining in power through continuing repression in order to remain in power through reasonably free and fair elections instead. Their argument, which I outline in Part ii, is that sometimes democracy occurs because the dominant party is strong rather than weak and on the verge of collapse. That opens up the possibility of similar frontsliding transformations in other authoritarian, autocratic, or quasi-autocratic nations, including Singapore and, most intriguingly, China. I examine this possibility in Part iii.

Political party building in populist style

This article assesses the local organisation of the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in its first participation in South Africa’s local government elections in 2016. Drawing on original interviews with local party activists, it explains how the EFF’s brand of populism mobilised at the grassroots level during its formative years. The study argues that the party’s populist style was effective because it helped appropriate existing diverse networks of political activists by positioning itself as the voice of ‘ordinary black people’ against business and government ‘elites’. This orientation of the EFF appealed to youth, activists, and mineworkers who felt excluded from the African National Congress (ANC); while the protests and regalia of its populist style nurtured feelings of collective identity and efficacy among local party organisers. The article indicates how a populist style can be effective in exploiting generational cleavages to build a viable opposition party within the constraints of a dominant party system.

Peripheral activism: understanding the influence of California and Texas on the American Union

ABSTRACT A common conception of modern states is that central governments adopt and then enforce their desired laws on the entirety of their territory. The reverse, however, is also possible. That is, distant but prominent peripheries can influence the laws and functions of the entire territory. This article discusses the latter dynamic by considering the influence of California and Texas on US society. In the US, its member states can influence the centre vertically and horizontally. Vertical influence occurs when states directly influence the federal government – for California and Texas, this influence rests on their large number of federal representatives and their internal single party dominance. Horizontal influence occurs when states influence other states – that is, states can adopt successful laws already present in other states. A combination of the two can take place where states cooperate to then influence the centre. Together, these behaviours demonstrate peripheral activism, actions political sub-units take to stamp their preferred vision of society on their broader state. To supplement the discussion, I discuss the ideological divide between California and Texas and how they attempt to stamp their preferred vision of politics on the US.

Does a voter's decision to sit out an election depend upon where others stand?: Some quasi-experimental evidence on the effect of local concentrations of voters and electoral competitiveness on voting participation

This analysis uses plausibly exogenous changes in electoral boundaries to investigate how voting participation is affected by local concentrations of voters who favor majority or minority parties. Novel instrumental variable and difference-in-differences models suggest that – even while accounting for overall electoral competitiveness – participation rates increase where there exist greater concentrations of voters who support majority parties, but a similar effect is not evident for less-popular, minority parties. Furthermore, this effect is driven by spending patterns of the dominant party in the local district.

The challenger advantage – how challenger parties disrupt mainstream party dominance in the European Parliament

ABSTRACT Under what conditions can challenger parties disrupt mainstream party dominance in democratic institutions? While extant work describes the cultural and economic developments that benefit challengers and parties’ programmatic responses to these, I demonstrate when and how challengers exploit these conditions in their political communication. Theoretically, I posit that challenger parties have relatively stronger vote-seeking incentives than mainstream parties. These collective incentives affect individual parliamentarians’ cost–benefit calculations. Challenger parliamentarians will engage in anti-establishment rhetoric and issue-entrepreneurship when these signals are more likely to reach the voting public and pay-off electorally. I test this theory by analysing parliamentary debates from the European Parliament (1999–2016) through a novel combination of word embeddings and bespoke dictionaries. I find that challenger parties indeed pursue different communication strategies than mainstream parties. Challenger parliamentarians engage in anti-establishment rhetoric in the run-up to elections and issue-entrepreneurship during crises. This is because these factors make speeches more likely to be transmitted to voters. These results demonstrate that challengers adjust their political communication in opportune moments giving them a competitive advantage over less flexible mainstream parties.

Decoding the ‘andolanjeevis’: foregrounding ‘reasoned emotion’ as a mobiliser in the Justice for Rohith Vemula movement

Civic protests around the globe have tried to highlight the increasing soft authoritarianism in democratic states. Under strict scrutiny, protestors have to devise a methodology that can help spread their message and yet not attract legal attention. Using a first-hand account, through activist-participatory observation, in the Justice for Rohith Vemula movement at the University of Hyderabad, India in 2016, this article develops the concept of ‘reasoned emotion’ to show how andolanjeevis tried to reach out to the non-protesting university community. The movement was aimed at seeking justice for the institutional discrimination meted out to Dalit-Bahujan students in Indian universities, and it started after the suicide of Rohith Vemula – an exceptionally bright, politically active Dalit doctoral researcher at the University of Hyderabad. By sharing factual legal documents to gain legitimacy and highlight the atrocities committed by the university administration in ‘socially boycotting’ five Dalit students, the andolanjeevis used binding reason to appeal to the emotional knowledge of the students. The performative aspect of the emotional appeal not only empowers protestors to mobilise empathy but also engenders an act of de-silencing suppressed narratives. This conceptualisation of the activism space foregrounds reason with emotion to build affective communities of support and solidarity.

Opponent campaign visits in dominant party regimes

Opponent campaign visits in dominant party regimes

Business and Politics of Eastern Africa

This article underscores a history of economic relations between Kenya and Uganda from 1962 to 2024. This is due to the fact that Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Sudan, Zaire, Somalia, Burundi, and Ethiopia are the most important business partners for Kenyan exports. The article reviews various literatures and a major gap has been identified. Theoretically, it adopts a bureaucratic theory, as was propounded by Max Weber in 1921. Methodologically, the article embraces a historical research design, as it helps in evaluating and relating the past occurrences in order to establish the causes, effects or trends of those occurrences with the aim of utilising the data to understand and explain the past, present and future anticipated events. In its findings, four eras of Kenya presidents are discussed. These includes: Jomo Kenyatta era, Daniel Arap Moi era, Mwai Kibaki era and finally Uhuru Kenyatta era. Based on the aforementioned eras, the article found out that; first the promise of democracy, a good life, and freedom was punctuated throughout the pronouncements that marked the formative years of the Kenyatta state. Secondly, this article discovered that, in 1990, when Moi was in power, the rhetoric of the KANU party suggested that African traditions were particularly well-suited to a one-party democracy environment. One of the traditions that were mentioned was the practice of making decisions through consensus rather than through competition. Lastly, during Kibaki era, Informal trade thrived due to bureaucratic hurdles and corruption at border points between Uganda and Kenya. In Conclusion, the rise of informal cross-border trade, particularly during times of political instability, has significantly influenced economic interactions between the two countries.

Hegemonic Party System and Federalism

The paper inquiries into the fixture of the hegemonic Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Party (EPRDF) in the operation of the Ethiopian federal constitutional order. It finds out the federal malfunction of EPRDF. The hegemonic political program of the front, which took the shape of a non-competitive dominant party was not in line with the constitutional diversity of the federal system, as it delinked the constitutional right to self-determination and federal autonomy from the options of multiparty politics. On the structure of EPRDF, equal representation was favorable to the federal politics of diversity accommodation and minority protection. However, the exclusiveness of its structure from the “affiliate” parties had the effects of a narrow-based federal shared-rule, as EPRDF which was the only channel to influence the center. Party-state inseparability was the other gap to the check of power and in establishing the neutrality of the state to deal with ethnic-driven conflict, as a major pathology to the stability of ethnic federal systems. Finally, the power nucleus in the EPRDF created the dominance of TPLF at the perils of diminishing the representative legitimacy and the subordinate position of the “affiliate parties” to EPRDF.

A path forward: social democratic strategies and responses to far-right populist challenges

ABSTRACT Social Democratic parties have been in crisis across Europe in recent decades. The once dominant party family has struggled to adapt to the structural challenges of post-industrialization, changes in its core constituency, and increased political competition from alternative parties. This article analyzes the welfare chauvinist shift embraced by some Social Democratic parties to assess its viability as an electoral strategy in response to this changing political landscape and far-right party challenges. The article analyzes individual-level data from 26 European countries from successive European Voter Survey rounds for 2014 and 2019. This article tests the relationship between voter positions on government intervention, redistribution, and immigration and support for Social Democratic parties. Issue salience data is also examined to identify the importance granted by the public to different concerns over time. Despite claims that welfare chauvinist approaches represent a path forward for Social Democrats, this research finds that this strategy is not a broad winning formula. Rather there are incentives for Social Democrats to return to their egalitarian and progressive roots on key socioeconomic and sociocultural issues.

The strategic use of ethnic and religious identity in Nigerian elections by the two dominant political parties

ABSTRACT This article examines the use of religion and ethnicity during elections in Nigeria. Nigeria’s diverse ethno-religious landscape has profoundly shaped its political dynamics, and political parties often leverage these identities to gain electoral advantage. During elections, Nigerians tend to align with political parties based on the party’s religious ideology. Self-serving politicians and political parties have turned to religion as a campaign tool. This is a qualitative study using the narrative method. Data was gathered from semi-structured interviews with 11 purposively selected informants and from relevant academic literature. Documentary analysis was used to analyse the data. The findings of the study were presented thematically, thus: a) the resurgence of political religion; b) the rise of religious populists; c) the emergence of militarizated non-state actors; d) the targets of Christian religious voters; e) the targets of ethnic groups from southern Nigeria; f) the target of state apparatus; g) bad leadership; and h) the institutionalisation of authoritarianism. During election campaigns, Nigerians vote for candidates with particular religious or ethnic identities due to the fear of losing their lives or properties.

State Partisan Dominance and the Distribution of TANF Funds, 2000–2018

In this field note, we examine the changing distribution of TANF spending patterns across the states. Given the important shift from the more restrictive categorical grant of AFDC to the more flexible block grant of TANF, examining patterns of spending across program categories is an important facet for understanding states’ welfare efforts. Overall, there has been a general decrease in the percentage of state TANF spending on cash assistance. Using a new measure of party dominance, we find that Democratic states initially spent a higher share of their TANF funds on cash assistance than Republican states. However, by the 2010s this partisan difference basically disappeared with Democratic states spending patterns matching those of Republican states, focusing less on cash assistance and giving greater priority to areas less reflective of TANF’s principal objectives.

A Critical Study on the Rise of Regional Party and Weakening of National Party in Tamil Nadu with Special Reference to Chennai

The political landscape of Tamil Nadu has witnessed a significant transformation characterised by the ascendancy of regional parties and the concurrent weakening of national parties. This research delves into the underlying factors contributing to this phenomenon and its implications for the state's political trajectory.Drawing on a combination of qualitative and quantitative methodologies, this study examines historical trends, electoral data, party manifestos, and socio-political dynamics to elucidate the rise of regional parties such as the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), alongside the diminishing influence of national parties like the Indian National Congress (INC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).Key drivers identified include linguistic identity politics, regional pride, historical grievances, charismatic leadership, and effective mobilization strategies. Additionally, socio-economic factors such as caste dynamics, welfare policies, and regional disparities play a crucial role in shaping voter preferences and party allegiances.The ramifications of this shift extend beyond electoral outcomes to governance, policy formulation, and federal dynamics. The dominance of regional parties has led to the prioritization of state-centric issues and the articulation of Tamil Nadu's distinct socio-cultural identity within the Indian federal framework.By offering a comprehensive analysis of the rise of regional parties and the decline of national parties in Tamil Nadu, this research contributes to a deeper understanding of sub-nationalism, federalism, and political decentralisation within the Indian context.This research follows a empirical research method and a total of 202 samples have been collected through questionnaire.

Development, democracy, and dependence in the Southern Cone: political coalitions, stabilizing mechanisms, and their hazards

This article explores the challenge of sustaining development-oriented political coalitions in ‘dependent intermediate democratic economies’ (IDDEs). Scholars have pointed out that the absence of upgrading coalitions in IDDEs, particularly in Latin America, results from weak economic and political institutions and fragmented political support, as well as from the political and social turbulences introduced by economic dependency. Our argument, however, is that some Latin American IDDEs have managed to craft semi-stable political configurations capable of sustaining development and reform processes with relative success. These intermediate coalitions pivot on context-specific stabilization mechanisms that balance institutional, political, and economic fragilities and tensions. To support this argument, we take issue with three countries in Latin America’s Southern Cone – Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay – and distinguish three different types of stabilization mechanism at play in each of these cases: an Argentine-style variant based on the hegemonic role played by a dominant political party, a Chilean-style variant based on elite consensus and the atomization of collective organization, and a Uruguayan-style variant sustained by stable links between and within economic and social sectors. Additionally, we explore how each of these configurations, due to their structure, carry inherent hazards that envision specific trajectories of destabilization.

Same-sex marriage in Japan and the role of courts in a dominant party system

Japan is increasingly isolated among advanced economies in not having made provision for same-sex marriage or same-sex civil unions at the national level. The main political obstacle to legal recognition of same-sex couples is the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), Japan’s dominant party, which has ruled the country with only two interruptions since 1955; many other parties support legalizing same-sex marriage, while the LDP does not. The literature suggests that the LDP secured its dominant position due to opposition fragmentation and ineffectiveness, and its own clientelist practices. Against this backdrop, cases are progressing through the Japanese judicial system seeking a finding that same-sex marriage is required under the 1947 Constitution. At the time of writing, the results of these cases have been mixed, with one case finding the current marriage law unconstitutional and two finding it constitutional. This article contends that Japanese courts should find in favour of these claims and hold that same-sex marriage is constitutionally required. That is so not merely because it is the better position under existing legal doctrine relating to equality and non-discrimination under Article 14(1) of the Constitution, but also because the dominant party status of the LDP means that there is less reason in constitutional theory for courts to show deference to the legislature. In a dominant party system, there is less reason to expect that the government will pay sufficient heed to rights, while ‘counter-majoritarian’ difficulties with judicial review are less credible given the more ambiguous nature of the democratic mandate of the legislature. This undercuts a significant justification given for judicial deference.