Intra-party Factionalism Research Articles

Intraparty Republican Factionalism as Identity in the Modern American South

Party factions are central to our understanding of American politics, but what role do party factions play within the electorate? With an August 2022 survey of the American South, we investigate factions within the modern GOP. We find evidence that faction identities overlap, as most Republicans hold some degree of identification with multiple factions. We also employ multivariate analyses to show that, despite evidence of overlap, Make America Great Again (MAGA) identifiers hold distinguishable opinions on President Trump and a variety of election issues. This research demonstrates the importance of factions within the southern Republican electorate and argues that factions can be an identity, representing a new way to conceive of intraparty factions in American politics.

The AfD within the AfD: Radical Right Intra-Party Competition and Ideational Change

AbstractThe normalization of radical right (RR) politics fosters opportunities for RR parties, but can also facilitate intra-party conflicts over the ‘true’ version of the shared party ideology. Previous research has highlighted two factors that influence ideational change within RR parties: contextual conditions and the formal power of intra-party factions. Yet, surprisingly, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) progressively radicalized to the right and witnessed the increased influence of its extremist grouping Der Flügel, despite contextual normalization pressures and the grouping's lower formal power. Analysing three crucial conflicts within the AfD between 2013 and 2021, we show how intra-party competition additionally plays into nativist party radicalization. Flügel balanced contextual and ‘hard’ power disadvantages by fostering its ‘soft’ power as ‘the true party within the party’. Simultaneously, this power was cemented by more established AfD actors who used Flügel's ideas against other competitors for office. Our conclusions have important implications for comparative research on competition within and between RR parties.

Dealing with the Facts of Life: The Management of Intra-Party Factionalism in the Iberian Radical Left Parties

AbstractFactionalism is an important element in parties' internal life, affecting their policies, strategies, electoral performance and even survival. Yet little is known about how parties manage factionalism. This study examines how radical left parties (RLPs) manage factionalism, drawing on a comparative case study of four RLPs – the Spanish Podemos and United Left (IU), and the Portuguese Left Bloc (BE) and Communist Party (PCP) – from 2010 to 2019. Drawing on original data collection, we find that parties adopt both formal and informal mechanisms to address factionalism. However, their approaches differ significantly. We identify two main approaches towards factionalism: apermissiveapproach, which allows internal pluralism, in the BE and IU; and aprohibitionistapproach, which actively fights factionalism, in Podemos and the PCP, withcompetitiveprohibitionism in the former andpre-emptiveprohibitionism in the latter. These approaches strongly correlate with parties' origins and political orientation, but neither fully prevents intra-party conflict or splintering.

The emerging fault line of alternative news: Intra-party division in Republican representatives’ media engagement

Intra-party factionalism and media fragmentation have emerged as two major trends in U.S. politics, especially on the right. We explore potential connections between these developments by analyzing the engagement of Republican members of the US House of Representatives with far-right alternative news media during the 116th Congress. We develop three discrete measures to scale representatives’ engagement using hyperlinks to news media on Twitter, demonstrating their validity against existing positional data: roll-call voting, ideological caucus membership, and political rhetoric. We then apply our scales empirically, showing that representatives with further-right media engagement became increasingly radical in their online communication during the Trump presidency. Representatives with more moderate media engagement did not radicalize in this way. These results suggest a dynamic relationship that reflects the ‘dual function’ of elite-media relations, where partisan elites serve as receivers of information and transmitters of intra-party signals in a fragmented media environment.

‘Lessons in statecraft’?: Political memoirs, tax reform, and the National Taxation Summit 1985

ABSTRACT Former politicians produce political memoirs for a variety of reasons, many of which are self-serving. However, given that active politicians who aspire to emulate or at least learn from the example of their predecessors often read political memoirs, we need to understand how these books conceptualise the policy process. In this article, I argue that political memoirs are a manifestation of their author’s (mis)conceptions of the policy process itself. Adopting the Hawke Government’s Taxation Summit of 1985 as a case study, I comparatively analysed the way that six political memoirs and autobiographies account for that policy process, examining the varying significance that each author ascribes to policymaking agents, chiefly the leadership, the executive, the bureaucracy, the intra-party factions, and external community interest groups. I conclude that memoirs are conditioned by genre conventions, and by their author’s specific vantage point within the policy network.

Managing democracy in Corbyn’s Labour Party: faction-fighting or movement-building?

During the early years of Jeremy Corbyn’s tenure as Labour leader, promises of wide sweeping party reform, in particular members-led democratisation, were central to fortifying his support within the extra-parliamentary party. However, by the time Corbyn’s leadership came to a close, very few reforms had been achieved. This article argues that whilst the Corbyn leadership was initially drawn towards a more grassroots vision of rank-and-file democracy, this came into tension with the demands facing the leadership in the context of intense intra-party factionalism. In a Brexit-dominated political landscape, both the normative and actual constraints facing internal party democracy meant that major party reforms were increasingly sidelined. Going forward, this has renewed important questions surrounding if, and how, a more direct vision of democracy is possible within a deeply institutionalised centre-left party.

A Network Analysis of Twitter Interactions by Members of the U.S. Congress

Usage of Twitter by politicians has become more prevalent in recent years, with a goal of influencing the electorate and public perception. We collect, explore, and analyze over 12 years of public Twitter interactions of U.S. senators and representatives. Using community detection algorithms on these interaction networks, and without considering the content of the tweets, we are able to infer the political affiliation of each member of Congress with up to 98.8% accuracy in the House and 94.1% accuracy in the Senate. In addition, we define two metrics that can determine the political ideology of members of Congress achieving a very high Spearman’s rank correlation of 0.86 with the existing DW-NOMINATE score from the field of political science. Finally, we expand our structural analysis to intra-party factions and found evidence that some factions act on Twitter more cohesively than others, suggesting an increasing risk of an echo chamber effect when promoting their political agenda.

China’s foreign and security policy institutions and decision-making under Xi Jinping

Power concentration in the hands of Xi Jinping, Chinese Communist Party General Secretary, can be interpreted not only as a reaction to the power fragmentation and the intra-party factionalism that developed under his predecessor, but also as a way to strengthen and stabilise China’s authoritarian polity. In the realm of foreign and security policy, it can also be understood as the result of China’s awareness of both the growing transnational security risks that it is facing and the need to better address the new international tasks and responsibilities it needs to fulfil as a great power. Since 2012, Xi has embarked on sweeping institutional reforms that have contributed to centralising and better coordinating foreign and security decision-making. Yet, although more integrated, China’s authoritarian system has remained fragmented, including in the realm of foreign and security policy, an area where decision-making processes are still highly opaque.

Why Georgia? A Curious and Unappreciated Pioneer on the Road to Early Youth Enfranchisement in the United States

AbstractIn 1943, Georgia’s constitution was amended to lower the voting age to eighteen, making it the first—and for twelve years, the only—state in the Union to establish a voting-age requirement below twenty-one. Despite being widely considered at the time by several national and state political actors, Georgia’s reform represents an important and unappreciated historical puzzle. First, few would regard mid-twentieth-century Georgia as being even modestly progressive, especially regarding voting rights. Second, there is no evidence that an organized group lobbied for the reform. Further, there is no reason why lowering the voting age was inherently unique to Georgia qua Georgia. Instead, this study offers a detailed historical analysis highlighting the dedication of its young governor, and argues that Ellis Arnall’s political entrepreneurialism coupled with growing intraparty factionalism in Georgian politics and strategic timing facilitated this rare instance of electoral progressivism in the Deep South.

Factional Dynamics in Philippine Party Politics, 1900–2019

The Philippines is a rich case study in the examination of intra-party factions and factionalism in competitive party systems of Southeast Asia. Intra-party factionalism is a recurring, yet understudied, aspect of Philippine party politics. The factional nature of Philippine party politics has endured through time – from bifactionalism of the post-war two-party system to the multi-factionalism of the post-authoritarian multi-party system. All the major political parties that have dominated politics at different historical epochs have experienced intense factional splits. Intra-party factionalism remains a consistent feature of party politics and has become more complicated over time. The number of factions has increased at every period of party system development, while the level of party institutionalization has remained generally low. This article seeks to address this puzzle by tracing the history of political factionalism in the Philippines. It maintains that factional resilience in Philippine party politics is an outcome of combined institutional and structural factors rooted in history. Adopting a historical institutional approach, it will delineate the path-dependent trajectory of intra-party factionalism at critical political junctures. Moreover, it will examine the role of intra-party factionalism in the under-institutionalization of the Philippine party system.

Interparty and Intraparty Factionalism in Cambodian Politics

Cambodia’s hegemonic party system that emerged after the violent removal of First Prime Minister Norodom Ranariddh early in July 1997 has now given way to a one-party state, which still remains prone to tension and instability. The party system has become less factionalised and can be characterised as moving from high to medium factionalism. This development resulted from the growing domination of the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) and the weakening of the opposition parties, such as National United Front for an Independent, Netural, Peaceful and Cooperative Cambodia, which splintered and become almost irrelevant in Cambodian politics. The Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) emerged as the main opposition party after the 2013 election but was then banned from competing in the 2018 election. Although the CNRP remains united by its anti-CPP position, it is still fractured along political lines between two former opposition parties – the Sam Rainsy Party and the Human Rights Party. Historical institutionalism sheds some new light on the variation of political developments among political parties and within them, but does not supplant the fact that party leaders are rational to the extent that they select strategies in pursuit of their interests defined as power or security under specific institutional constraints or the lack thereof.

Faction Politics in an Interrupted Democracy: the Case of Thailand

Though dominated by the monarchy and military, Thailand in 2020 has a highly factionalised, political party system ensconced within a defective democracy. When not under military rule, such a situation has been common. The country’s excessive level of factionalism across parties and over time is due to a long history of regionalised and decentralised parties that have invariably been dependent upon finance from faction leaders who have rarely been reined in by laws to limit factionalism. Only under Thaksin Shinawatra (2001–2006), did factionalism diminish in importance on the national level owing partly to 1997 constitutional alterations. Following a 2006 coup and the 2007 adoption of a military-endorsed constitution, a high level of intra-party factionalism returned across parties. Though the 2014 coup again ended the country’s faction-ridden democracy, the 2019 general election resurrected factionalism, which guaranteed weakness for party politics while benefiting the aristocracy and military.

Causes, Effects, and Forms of Factionalism in Southeast Asia

This paper is the introduction for a special issue which examines intra-party factions and factionalism in competitive party systems of Southeast Asia, looking at the cases of Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Timor-Leste, in that order and rounding up with a comparative conclusion. The study centres primarily upon one query: in competitive party systems of Southeast Asia, what accounts for the rise of factionalism in some party systems relative to others? The paper at hand frames this special issue, reviewing the literature and examining the causes, effects and forms of factionalism in general and more specifically in Southeast Asia.

Party Systems and Factionalism in Timor-Leste

This study identifies and explains the factors that have shaped the evolution of the competitive political party system in East Timor from its beginnings in the 1970s to the difficult and sometimes violent transition since independence in 2002 towards a semi-developed competitive party system. It reviews the organizational character of the two major Parties: FRETILIN and the CNRT and the minor parties in the national parliament and the nature of intra-party factionalism in contemporary politics in what is an under-institutionalized and a predominantly personalistic system.

Xi Jinping and the End of Chinese Exceptionalism

China watchers have long speculated whether Beijing is developing a genuinely new, exceptionally dynamic form of authoritarian governance. Recent developments suggest, however, that the Communist leadership under Xi Jinping is reverting to an orthodox form of personalist authoritarianism. This process accelerated in the run-up to the Nineteenth Communist Party Congress in 2017 and in its aftermath. The article investigates the extent to which Xi has eliminated key political norms and quasi-institutions that previously distinguished the consensus-driven collective leadership of the “China model” and allowed for a working power balance between different intra-Party factions, an orderly political succession process, and a relative predictability of intra-Party dynamics. It assesses the implications of this return to a personalist form of authoritarianism for China’s political and economic development.

Over the threshold: the politics of foreign policy in majoritarian parliamentary systems—the case of Britain

Executive autonomy influences the ability of states to make credible commitments, utilise their domestic resources, and deter adversaries. In majoritarian parliamentary regimes, it is often assumed that executive autonomy is derived from the possession of a substantial parliamentary majority, since this affords the government a ‘buffer’ in the legislature. Yet, this understanding fails to account for the value of seats above the majority threshold for foreign policy, where the executive is constrained by internal dissent more than the non-passage of legislation. This article challenges the assumption of a linear relationship between seat share and executive autonomy through a theoretical re-examination of the politics of foreign policy in majoritarian parliamentary systems. It argues that possession of a significant majority can actually undermine the executive’s foreign policy autonomy, since it increases the degree of intra-party factionalism without introducing corresponding benefits in the legislature. The argument is illustrated empirically through an examination of the politics of British foreign policy at three decisive elections (1950, 1955, and 1966) in the early Cold War period.

The Features of LDP's Intraparty Factions and Political Conservative Shift in Japan

The Features of LDP's Intraparty Factions and Political Conservative Shift in Japan

Political Party Finance in Thailand Today: Evolution, Reform, and Control

ABSTRACTThis study examines the evolution of political party finance in Thailand, which has been crucial for party development. The nature of party finance cannot be examined separately from the country's democratization given that the military early on dominated political parties. At the same time, such financing traditionally depended upon either regional factions (for larger parties) or party leaders (for micro-parties), while state funding for parties was nonexistent. The 1998 and 2007 Organic Acts on Political Parties contained finance reforms to strengthen parties, making them more transparent and accountable. Yet these reforms have only been partly successful. Today party leaders, faction leaders, and the military continue to influence party finance. This study addresses the issue of party finance in Thailand by scrutinizing its historical evolution from the dawn of Thai parties and party laws in the 1950s to the present. The authors conclude, first, that the limited nature of party finance laws in the pre-1998 period legitimized military-backed parties while facilitating intra-party factionalism. Second, they contend that despite reforms in party finance laws in Thailand major flaws remain to be corrected.

Epilogue: What 2012 nomination contests tell us about the future of the Republican Party

Analysis of Tea Party activists within the Republican Party illustrates the “good-news, bad-news” aspects of intra-party factionalism. The good news is that nomination contests between Tea Party and establishment Republicans, divisive as they appear, do not necessarily undermine support for the party's nominees in the general election. Support for Tea Party candidates among its activists in the 2012 presidential nomination fight produced increased support for Romney–Ryan in the general election. At the same time, however, activism for Tea Party candidates contributed to increased negativity towards the Republican Party among Tea Party activists, suggesting that the factionalism within the party is unlikely to be soon resolved. Finally we find that negativity towards the Republican establishment is playing an even greater role than negativity towards President Obama in producing continuing or increased Tea Party movement activity. This suggests that the movement has the potential to survive beyond Obama's presidency.

Party over Section: The Rough and Ready Presidential Election of 1848 (review)

Reviewed by: Party over Section: The Rough and Ready Presidential Election of 1848 Matthew Isham Party over Section: The Rough and Ready Presidential Election of 1848. By Joel H. Silbey. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2009. ISBN: 978-0-7006-1640-3, 224 pp., cloth, $34.95. This slim volume by Joel Silbey marks the first significant historical treatment of the landmark 1848 election in roughly forty years. It is a brisk and cogent analysis of an election campaign that many historians have seen as a harbinger of the breakdown of the two-party system and the coming of the Civil War. Nearly forty years ago, Joseph Rayback hailed the third-party Free Soil campaign of 1848 as the first conscious attempt in American history to found a political party dedicated to the pursuit of human rights. Indeed, the political antislavery movement was akin to democratic revolutions that spread across Europe that same year, before being snuffed out by state power. Free Soilers destabilized the existing party system by changing the terms of the national debate over slavery's expansion. However, Silbey contends that this romanticized view of the election misses the real lessons of 1848. Instead, that election demonstrated the strength and stability of the major parties and the weakness of the nascent political antislavery movement. Silbey dispassionately and incisively concludes, "as in Europe in 1848, in the end, the dominant forces proved not to be the challengers but the more traditional players in the political arena who were able to retain control of the process and the outcome" (153). Those traditional players were the Whigs and Democrats who had defined the second American party system since 1832. Echoing familiar themes of partisan development, Silbey succinctly describes how these parties subsequently became deeply embedded in society, reflecting and reifying the ethno-cultural divisions of an increasingly diverse society. Democrats tended to appeal to a [End Page 179] diverse array of immigrants, faiths (particularly Catholics), small producers and laborers, while Whigs appealed largely to commercially minded, nativeborn Protestants. Both parties fused ethno-cultural appeals with divergent principles and platforms. Through systematic organization and frequent, boisterous campaigning, the parties garnered the deep loyalty of voters who internalized their political principles. Silbey's deft and detailed description of organized electioneering is one of the pleasures of this book, illustrating how the partisan campaigns entertained and edified the electorate, soliciting voters' emotional as well as intellectual investment in the political system. The parties' deep roots in the electorate enabled them to withstand the political storm that erupted over the potential extension of slavery into federal territories gained in the Mexican War. Those who were dissatisfied with the parties' reluctance to restrict slavery from these territories coalesced into the Free Soil Party. However, despite attracting thousands of disaffected Democrats in New York to their standard, the Free Soilers gained few defectors from the major parties. In explaining this result, the book reiterates familiar conclusions from the author's prolific scholarship. Slavery did not supersede the issues that had traditionally divided the major parties, and a significant drop in voter turnout in 1848 suggested that voters preferred to abstain rather than abandon their party when dissatisfied with their electoral options. This low voter turnout, not the Free Soil challenge, determined the outcome of the election in the Whigs' favor. Party over Section is a useful primer on the second-party system, as well as a sharp analysis of traditional partisan strength in the 1848 election. However, one wonders if one campaign can accurately indicate the relative strength or weakness of a political party, or the system in which it operates. Though the Democrats and Whigs turned back the Free Soil challenge relatively easily in 1848, they remained stricken by persistent intra-party factionalism (over economic policy, slavery and host of other issues) in several states. Indeed, this factionalism is a vital factor in assessing the relative health of these organizations. Tightly focused on the election itself (it is part of the American Presidential Elections series by the University Press of Kansas), the book eschews that issue. Despite this concern, this volume will be eminently useful for scholars of this momentous campaign in particular and students...