Inter-party Cooperation Research Articles

The British Conservative Party, the Scandinavian Conservative Parties, and Inter-Party Cooperation in Europe, 1949-78

ABSTRACT This article explores the links between the British and Scandinavian Conservative parties in Europe between the late-1940s and the late-1970s. Its findings show that these parties were closer to each other than has been assumed. The British and Scandinavian Conservative parties built up significant relationships with each other at the organisational level throughout the 1950s, which led to transfers of political knowledge and information mostly from Britain to Scandinavia. From the 1960s the circulation of knowledge started to flow in both directions, but it was strongest in the Swedish case. The British Conservative Party then bridged the gap between the Scandinavian Conservative parties and the West German CDU/ CSU and the Austrian ÖVP in Europe, helping to cement the parties into a new centre-right international known as European Democrat Union. This gave the British and Scandinavian Conservative parties more contacts abroad and reinforced the view that British Conservatism was not an ideological outlier in Europe. But the history of inter-party cooperation shows that the British and Scandinavian Conservatives were mostly at odds with the greater integrationist and federalist ambitions of Christian democrats. Therefore, the article offers us another way of explaining the persistence of Euroscepticism in the British Conservative Party.

Camps, not just parties. The dynamic foundations of affective polarization in multi-party systems

Concerns over affective polarization in Western democracies are growing. But which broader political distinctions are also affective demarcations? As inter-party cooperation is the rule in multi-party democracies, explaining affective polarization beyond partisan divisions is crucial. I argue that demarcations between political camps deepen affective polarization, and country-level factors influence the relevance of these affective divides. Based on survey data from 23 Western democracies (1996–2019), I demonstrate that affect is most polarized between Left and Right camps, and between the Radical Right and other camps. Further, these divides are dynamic and depend on different country-level outcomes. The Left/Right divide disappears when Left and Right parties govern together, while the Radical Right divide is fortified with Radical Right electoral success. These findings highlight that affective polarization’s group foundations extend beyond partisanship, and that affective polarization could even act as a defence mechanism against radical challengers.

Market making for the planet: the Paris Agreement Article 6 decisions and transnational carbon markets*

ABSTRACT The inclusion of market approaches to inter-Party cooperation in Article 6 of the Paris Agreement was controversial among Parties. The Article 6 rules, which were among the last elements of the Paris rulebook to be agreed at the 2021 Glasgow conference, were keenly contested among Parties. This article analyses the significance of Article 6 and the related decisions from the Glasgow and Sharm el-Sheikh conferences for the governance of transnational carbon markets. It argues that these rules have the potential to anchor carbon markets in a normative framework of enhanced mitigation ambition and environmental integrity. However, realising this potential will depend on the recursive interactions of multiple actors and sites of norm production within and beyond UNFCCC processes. The theory of transnational legal orders (TLOs) is applied to the analysis of this situation. TLO theory also suggests key factors that will determine the salience of Article 6 to carbon markets.

The Way we Were: How Histories of Co-Governance Alleviate Partisan Hostility

Comparative politics scholars argue that consensual democratic institutions encourage power-sharing that promotes “kinder, gentler” politics. We uncover one reason why this is the case: elite inter-party cooperation in consensual systems is associated with reduced inter-party hostility in the mass public. This is because governing parties’ supporters feel much more warmly toward their coalition partner(s) than we can explain based on policy agreement alone. Moreover, these warm affective evaluations linger long after the coalition itself has dissolved. We substantiate our arguments via analyses of CSES survey data from 19 Western democracies between 1996 and 2017, showing that current and past co-governance is associated with substantially warmer inter-party affective evaluations. This implies that electoral systems which encourage coalition governance may defuse partisan hostility.

Party Competition and Cooperation Shape Affective Polarization: Evidence from Natural and Survey Experiments in Israel

Does electoral competition increase affective polarization? Can inter-party cooperation depolarize voters? Addressing these questions is challenging since both competition and cooperation are endogenous to political attitudes. Building on social identity theory and leveraging a natural experiment unfolding over seven Israeli election studies, we demonstrate that the enhanced salience of electoral competition increases affective polarization. We then consider whether inter-party cooperation can depolarize the electorate. To do so, we further build on theories of coalition ambivalence and party brands and leverage the ambiguity around coalition building following elections of Israel’s 22nd Knesset, to implement a survey experiment where we credibly shape respondents’ perceptions regarding the likelihood that a unity government will form. We find that priming party cooperation in the form of a unity government promotes tolerance across partisan lines. Our studies contribute to the affective polarization literature by identifying institutional causes and remedies of polarization in a comparative context.

Elite Interactions and Voters’ Perceptions of Parties’ Policy Positions

AbstractRecent research documents that voters infer that governing coalition partners share similar ideologies, independently of these parties’ actual policy statements. We argue that citizens estimate party positions from more general forms of interparty cooperation and conflict, particularly near the times of national elections. We analyze tens of thousands of media reports on elite interactions from 13 Western democracies between 2001 and 2014, and show that—controlling for coalition arrangements and for the policy tones of parties’ election manifestos—voters infer greater left–right agreement between pairs of parties that have more cooperative public relationships, but that this “cooperation effect” is only evident near the times of national elections. Our findings have implications for parties’ policy images and for mass–elite linkages.

КОЛЛЕГИАЛЬНЫЙ ПРИНЦИП ФОРМИРОВАНИЯ ОРГАНОВ ВЛАСТИ И РОЛЬ МЕЖПАРТИЙНОГО СОТРУДНИЧЕСТВА В ПОЛИТИЧЕСКОМ ПРОЦЕССЕ ВОРОНЕЖСКОЙ И ТАМБОВСКОЙ ГУБЕРНИЙ В ФЕВРАЛЕ-ОКТЯБРЕ 1917 Г.

The article for the first time examines the collegial principle as a basis for the formation of power bodies in the period of the Russian Provisional Government. The author analyses forms of inter-party cooperation and shows the interaction of parties in bodies of power. The participants of 1917 political process considered the collegial principle as a guarantee of democratic power. Considerable influence of the Mensheviks in social democratic organizations of Tambov province contributed to preserving relative political peace in pre-October period and thereafter.

Penanganan Penyelundupan Manusia Di Wilayah Pesisir Provinsi Lampung

Coastal Lampung is one of the areas visited by immigrant, the asylum seekers, before heading to the destination country. They come from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sudan, and Somalia. Immigrants left their home countries because of conflict and socio-economic conditions. The concept of maritime development must pay attention to the social security aspect of illegal immigrants, and people smuggling. The specific purpose of this study is to get a development model for cooperation in handling human smuggling in the Lampung Coastal Region. This study uses the Lani Kass formula regarding non traditional security threats. From the formula, the researcher will explain the descriptive qualitative method of three aspects, such as vulnerability, the intention of the foreigners’s arrival and state capabilities. The result of this study shows that there is already a model of cooperation for handling people smuggling in Lampung, including to reach the coastal areas. Inter-party cooperation coordinated by the Ministry of Political, Legal and Security Coordination involves up to the regional government. The efforts to handle people smuggling in Lampung was intense around 2008 and faded around 2015. There was a dependency from the part of the regional government on the central government's budget and programs, and cooperation initiated by the central government with international organizations such as IOM, UNHCR and the destination countries of the refugees. The increasing cases have not been responded to by the government with adequate regulation and handling efforts. Indonesia has not signed a refugee convention, also affects the absence of regional regulations regarding people smuggling. Key words: People Smuggling, Vulnerability, Intention, State Capabilities, Local Government

The effects of majority requirements, selectorate composition and uncertainty in indirect presidential elections: the case of Estonia

ABSTRACTThis article assesses the effects of common features in the indirect election of presidents in parliamentary republics. In particular, it examines the influence of majority requirements, selectorate composition and uncertainty on party strategies, using Estonia (1996–2016) as a crucial case for analysis. The analysis demonstrates that the lack of a plurality run-off effectively eliminated incentives for inter-party cooperation and strategic voting. It furthermore shows that shifts in the partisan composition and control of the selectorate from parliament to electoral college provided considerable opportunities for agenda manipulation. Subsequently, results only rarely reflected the parliamentary balance of power. Last, although overall indicators suggest greater congruence between parliament and electoral college over time, this proliferated rather than reduced parties’ uncertainty over the electoral outcome as non-parliamentary electors voted based on local interests and acted independently from national party leaders.

Forms of Inter-party Cooperation: Electoral Coalitions and Party Mergers

This article is part of the special cluster titled Parties and Democratic Linkage in Post-Communist Europe, guest edited by Lori Thorlakson, and will be published in the August 2018 issue of EEPS Various forms of inter-party cooperation have important effects on party system fragmentation and stability in young democracies. However, the conceptualisation and measurement of these forms of inter-party cooperation and the examination of their consequences on party system development remain limited in the literature on parties and party systems. This research addresses this gap in the scholarship in three ways. First, we present the analytical scheme of different types of party cooperation. We argue that the forms of inter-party cooperation vary on two dimensions. The first dimension refers to their structural basis: the stability of the cooperation as captured by whether it is rule-based or, in other words, underpinned by shared rules that are mutually accepted. The second dimension refers to their scope: the number of functional areas of party life subject to cooperation. The two dimensions lead us to four basic forms of inter-party cooperation: (1) non-rule-based, functionally restricted coalitions; (2) rule-based, functionally restricted coalitions; (3) non-rule-based organization-wide mergers; and (4) rule-based organization-wide mergers. Second, we develop theoretical expectations on the frequency of these forms of inter-party cooperation in Central and Eastern Europe. Third, to test these expectations, we present empirical evidence on the number of electoral coalitions and mergers in the first six electoral periods in 10 countries in the region. The results of the analyses support our expectations: non-rule-based organization-wide mergers are rare. The other three forms of party cooperation (non-rule-based coalitions; rule-based coalitions; rule-based mergers) are fairly common in most countries in the region, although less so in the more recent electoral periods.

Legislators' Patterns of Cooperation

This study attempts to identify the patterns of cooperation between legislators. We argue that if legislators decide to cooperate, they prefer to do so first with their colleagues who share similar affiliations and then across affiliations. In order to examine this hypothesis, we devised a unique cooperation scale and tested it using a sample of the private member bills that were initiated in the 18th Knesset (Israel’s parliament) between 2009 and 2013. We then looked at each bill with regard to its initiators and co-sponsors to see if they were members of the same party, members of the opposition or coalition, or members of a minority group. Based on the quantitative analysis, we found that of all of the factors, only being a minority was significant. Based on the qualitative analysis, we determined that intra-party cooperation does exist. In three parties – Hadash, Meretz and Israel Beitenu -- legislators tended to cooperate with each other. Finally, with regard to inter-party cooperation, Jewish and Arab MKs tended to cooperate, and Russian Jewish legislators tended to cooperate regardless of party affiliation. Our study is innovative in its creation of a cooperation scale that can be used in other legislatures and that is based on measures of co-sponsorship instead of analyses of dyadic or social networks used in previous studies.

ПРОБЛЕМАТИКА ФОРМУВАННЯ ПОЛІТИЧНОГО ПРОСТОРУ УКРАЇНИ ТА ЄС

The article is devoted to the issue of political space forming of contemporary Ukraine and European Union. The paper proposes a new classification of the political parties which are represented in Ukraine. It was determined by using different types of analysis the concept of “policy space” and its application in contemporary political science, main trends and relationships that directly affect the integration of Ukraine’s political system into the EU political space, importance of inter-party cooperation in the process of European integration.

Polarization Lost: Exploring the Decline of Ideological Voting after the Gilded Age

We examine the decline in congressional polarization that occurred during the 1920s, as party differences narrowed relative to the high levels of the turn of the twentieth century – a period that has, until recently, been regarded as the high-water-mark of partisan polarization in American politics. While our results are preliminary, we note two sets of findings. First, procedures may have contributed to depolarization, in that a decline in agenda control and procedural dominance by the majority party in the House seems to have been a significant factor associated with depolarization. That is, as highly polarized roll calls declined and the proportion of less polarized substantive roll calls increased, overall levels of polarization in the House declined. Second, both qualitative and roll call evidence suggests that agricultural and tariff policies were key early areas of interparty cooperation, providing important opportunities for cross-party and cross-regional coalitions (like the Farm Bloc and the Progressive Coalition) to form before the Conservative Coalition emerged in the late-1930s.

Compromising Partisans: Assessing Compromise in Health Care Reform

Intense partisanship and the permanent election mentality permeate Congress, such that bipartisanship is rare. Yet we contend that in overlooking intra-party compromises, observers both exaggerate the negative implications of partisan polarization and inflate the merits of inter-party cooperation. We show that in situations of unified government in this polarized era, meaningful compromises to enact major legislation may occur within heterogeneous parties instead of between polarized counterparts. Through an examination of health care reform in the 111th Congress, we demonstrate the significance of these intra-party compromises. While acknowledging that partisanship and the constant campaign cycle prevented bipartisan collaboration on health care reform and created a poisonous atmosphere, we nonetheless do not fuel the common anxiety over vitriolic partisanship – the same partisanship enhanced the importance of intra-party compromise for passing landmark legislation. Given that partisan tensions are not diminishing, our research also may provide food for thought for policy analysts. The article draws on material from one author’s informal, in-person conversations with over a dozen key actors in 2010 and 2011.

Engaging with the European Union? Exploring the Europeanization of the British National Party

Hostility towards the process of European integration is generally considered to constitute one of the hallmarks of the far right 'family' in Europe. This article acknowledges such opposition but it also recognises that the rhetoric is often at odds with actual policy activities and aspirations. Not only have far right parties long advocated greater European inter-party co-operation but they are now actively pursuing engagement with the European Union, especially the European Parliament, as a means of advancing their own strategic interests and boosting their finances. This article focuses on one far right party, namely the British National Party (BNP) and examines the partys approach towards the EU, its activities within the EP and its efforts to boost pan European cooperation through the new Alliance of European National Movements (AENM). It argues that the partys engagement with the European Union may have allowed the BNP to take advantage of new political opportunity structures but in turn, opened it up to Europeanization and made it increasingly dependent on the EU.

Rights, responsibilities and equity in land use planning

Planning is about places, real and particular places; and Belfast - the venue for the 2012 conference of the International Academic Association on Planning, Law and Property Rights (IAPLR) - is a very special place. That is why this report begins with the sub-plot of this conference: Northern Ireland is emerging out of the terrible years of the troubles and inter-sectarian violence, and its people are proudly building rules, practices and bonds - including new planning laws and local government reform - in order to create a society which does not tear itself to pieces.This sub-plot shed a warm glow over the rather wet and grey centre of Belfast and over the conference itself, shaping its common, plenary, parts. The conference was organised by the School of the Built Environment, University of Ulster and they gave it the locally very appropriate theme 'Rights, responsibilities and equity in land use planning'. The meetings took place in the very smart Europa Hotel (the most bombed hotel in Europe!), a reception was held and dinner served in the magnificent and bombastic City Hall, and a second reception and guided tour were given in the grand and formidable Stormont parliamentary buildings.To those of us with chilling memories of bomb scares and - worse - explosions, it was not necessary to make that sub-plot explicit; others, however, might have found it more difficult to understand some of the plenary sessions. Peter Roberts (University of Leeds) gave a presentation - 'Big government in hard times' - about the distribution of government powers between central government, local government and communities. Remember that much of the government of Northern Ireland, including town and country planning, had been exercised by London since 1972, because Britain could not trust the public bodies in Northern Ireland to do that impartially. Now, those powers are back with the Northern Ireland Assembly, but not yet with the local authorities.Jenny Pyper, Deputy Secretary in the NI Department of Social Development, talked about urban regeneration and the spatial dimension of social services. Politicians must learn to take responsibility and to adopt shared agendas, she said. That statement is born out of much suffering and injustice. Richard Barnett, vice-chancellor of the University of Ulster, talked of the plans for a new campus, to the north of the city centre, not separated from the local (deprived) community and encouraging access to all. Cathal Boylan, member of the Legislative Assembly and from Sinn Fein, talked to us of the inter-party cooperation on planning and environmental issues and on local government reform. He refers to Northern Ireland, expressly, as 'the north of Ireland', but works with everyone who wants to improve conditions in that province.Even the guides who showed us round the City Hall and Stormont presented - lively, witty and informative, in the best Irish fashion - the same message: 'we are going forward, constructively and inclusively'. My taxi driver said that it was good that such international conferences could once again be held in Belfast. However, even though Belfast and Northern Ireland are moving forward, local particularity is never far away. Diana Fitzsimons (Turley Associates), who during the opening reception talked us through the ambitious plans for Titanic Quarter, emphasised that the local council was aiming for an area that is not only mixed-use but also mixed-population. Where in other places this would imply a social-economic or ethnic mix, here - and strikingly for the visitors - it meant a mix of Protestants and Catholics, of Loyalists/ Unionists and Republicans/Nationalists. We learned also that history is not only a burden, something to be borne in mind and acted upon continuously; it can also be a source of irony and laughter. We were assured by more than one person that the Titanic was OK when it leftBelfast. Or as someone said: 'it was built by the Irish and sunk by the English'. …

Meeting the Challenges of Representation and Accountability in Multi-party Governments

In systems of proportional parliamentarism political parties play a double role. On the one hand they make delegation and accountability work; on the other they add complexity to the delegation regime, as minority situations require inter-party cooperation. Because coalition government usually involves policy compromises, the question arises how the coalition parties can ensure that the ministers stick to the coalition deal. Employing the principal–agent framework, this paper shows that coalitions can use several control mechanisms to pursue this goal. The authors consider ex ante mechanisms such as policy agreements that set the agenda for future policy decisions and coalition screening of ministerial candidates. Next they discuss the effects of ex post mechanisms such as strong committee systems and institutional checks like ‘watchdog’ junior ministers. Employing a simple spatial model, they illustrate how these instruments work. Using control mechanisms is not costless, however, and actors may want to avoid these costs. The article specifies conditions that make the use of control mechanisms likely to occur.

Multi-level Coalitions and Statute Reform in Spain

Between 2003 and 2007 six regional statutes of autonomy were reformed in Spain. These are Organic Laws that form part of the ‘constitutional bloc’ in Spain and determine the characteristics of state decentralization, so contain high thresholds for revision in the regional and Spanish parliament. Statutes are a flexible component of ‘non-institutional federalism’ in Spain and their negotiation highlights both centripetal and centrifugal dynamics in state design. Existing empirical studies have compared the content of these reforms. This article compares the political dynamics of statute reform, in light of existing literature on coalitional bargaining. It argues that statute reform is a competitive two-level game (regional and central), which requires parties to form single-issue ‘statute coalitions’. Statute coalitions require varying degrees of inter-party co-operation, and can distort more permanent governing or parliamentary coalitions between statewide and non-statewide parties. They can exacerbate intra-party tensions, but may also be useful for ‘coalitional experimentation’ in multi-level arenas. Statute negotiations are unbounded because Spanish parties exploit them for electoral advantage and not merely to secure their policy preferences. This article contains two case studies of statute reform (Catalonia, Valencia) which illustrate these complex and varied dynamics, and suggests comparative avenues for further research on constitutional reform in multi-level systems.

Party Cartel and Cartel Parties in Germany

Germany seems to be an ideal case for the cartel theory. Public funding for political parties is strongly advanced and there is much inter-party cooperation with respect to the organisational self-interests of parties. This contribution will take a closer look at the formation of the German party cartel and the three analytical dimensions of the cartel model. I will argue that in terms of party organisations, societal linkages and competitive styles German parties only partly match the expectations of the cartel model. Or, to put it more bluntly, there is a party cartel in Germany, but there are no cartel parties.

Herbert Kitschelt, Zdenka Mansfeldova, Radoslav Markowski, Gábor Tóka: Post-Communist Party Systems. Competition, Representation, and Inter-Party Cooperation

Herbert Kitschelt, Zdenka Mansfeldova, Radoslav Markowski, Gábor Tóka: Post-Communist Party Systems. Competition, Representation, and Inter-Party Cooperation