Party System Research Articles

Partisan Politics in Finland

Abstract Traditionally, the Finnish party system has involved a high level of fragmentation yet remarkable stability, consensual decision-making, ideologically broad government coalitions, and mostly modest levels of polarization between parties or voters. These features suggest a limited effect of the party composition of government on economic policy. However, based on studies on close local elections, parliamentary speech, and party manifestos, we argue that the link between party politics and policy outcomes likely plays a role in Finland. Most analyses have examined the extent to which the characteristics of local politicians within the parties affect policy outcomes. These studies show that occupation, education, experience, competence, and residential location of local politicians strongly affect local policies, indicating that, in general, politics matters for policy. We also discuss how consensual national politics may have contributed to the recent success of the populist challenger Finns Party. As a new major player, the party has emphasized the role of sociocultural issues and especially affective polarization, which represents a considerable paradigm shift from the catch-all party policies typical of Finland for many decades. It is thus possible that the link between politics and policy will become more pronounced in the future, motivating further research.

“Tetranstornation” as retrogression: AMLO’s Mexico beyond alternation

AbstractIn response to the landslide electoral victory by the morena-led coalition in Mexico, I offer a two-part argument for its interpretation. Like bifocal glasses, the seventy-one-year State Party rule offers a far-sighted panorama to question the “transition towards democracy” in Mexico. Against this backdrop, a more detailed focus follows the development of the political leader who slayed the party system for the alternation of power. Together, they present an analytical description of the retrogression within a “post-neoliberal” turn.

Institutionalisation of Party Systems in Post-Communist Countries of Europe: Factors and Problems

Institutionalisation of Party Systems in Post-Communist Countries of Europe: Factors and Problems

Two worlds, one nation? Comparing the political spaces of Flanders and Francophone Belgium

Abstract The transformation of the Belgian party system has unfolded asymmetrically: while conservative and far-right parties have thrived in Flanders, the populist right vote has not (yet) been mobilized in Francophone Belgium. Focusing on the demand side of electoral politics, this article explores whether these disparities on the supply side mirror distinct political dimensions and cleavages in both regions. By using an innovative methodology of (class-specific) multiple correspondence analysis, we find that the Flemish and the Francophone political space are largely alike – both in terms of the composition of their political dimensions as in their cleavage structure. However, we also find that Francophones adhere to a distinctive welfare consensus, which prevents working-class embourgeoisement and likely moderates the electoral fortunes of the far right. Overall, our results challenge the common stereotypes of a ‘conservative Flanders’ and a ‘progressive Wallonia’.

Local roots and rebellion: Constituency connections and legislative behaviour of British MPs, 2010–21

Abstract This study explores the relationship between the local roots of Westminster MPs and parliamentary party discipline, a central principle of the British system of responsible party government. While recently the local base of MPs has attracted increasing academic attention, only little effort has been put into investigating how this might influence the political behaviour of parliamentarians. In order to do so, this study utilizes a comprehensive database on the local base of British parliamentarians, which includes data on all Westminster MPs from 2010 to 2021, supplemented with information on parliamentary dissent. Contrary to theoretical assumptions and existing international studies, localness is shown to have no positive influence on MPs propensity for parliamentary rebellion. This suggests that the increasing recruitment of local candidates does not challenge the traditional functionality of the responsible party system of government, yet nor should localness be seen as a panacea for the perceived representational deficits of British democracy.

Metamorphosis of Turkey’s political landscape: unveiling the evolving party system in the aftermath of the presidential system shift and the 2023 elections

ABSTRACT The May 2023 elections in Turkey—comprising both parliamentary and presidential races—represented a pivotal moment in the country’s political history. These elections provided a crucial evaluation of the hyper-presidential system instituted after the 2017 constitutional transition. This article delves into the impact of the 2023 electoral outcomes on Turkey’s party system within the context of Turkey’s transition to a presidential system. It examines the ramifications of institutional changes, such as the introduction of winner-takes-all dynamics and alliance laws, on party system dynamics. Our findings indicate substantial transformations in key aspects of the party system, including increased polarization, heightened fragmentation, enhanced volatility, and intensified personalization. Through empirical analysis, showcasing the evolving dynamics of these challenges within the Turkish party system and their consequences for both the party system’s structure and the broader political regime, we offer insights into potential future trajectories for Turkey’s political landscape.

Party Cohesion, Congruence, and Foreign Powers: Latin American Views About China and the United States

While Latin America's parties suffer from notoriously incongruent relations between legislators and voters, we use mass and legislator-level surveys to show that many parties’ voters and/or legislators coalesce around a singular view about the United States and China. The data indicate frequent congruence between the two levels, and in most of those cases, attitudes towards both countries are positive. Presuming that policies towards the superpowers are not valence issues, this suggests that attitudes towards the powers do help to structure party politics, although the rivalry between the powers is seldom salient. In explaining the correlates of intra-partisan agreement, we focus on ideology, party system structuration, and economic ties. Among the findings is that because attitudes towards the United States are more likely to polarize the left and right, China has extra potential for growing its support. A warning, however, is that legislators in several rightist parties do share a negative perspective about China.

Assessing electoral coordination: A quasi-experimental design of changes in district magnitude over time

This paper examines the impact of district magnitude, defined as the number of representatives elected per district, on the number of political parties. Conventional wisdom, supported by cross-national and within-country studies, indicates a positive and curvilinear relationship between district magnitude and the number of parties, with diminishing returns in larger-magnitude districts. However, this relationship is complicated by the increasing regionalization of party systems and the distinct socio-economic compositions of districts correlated with district magnitude. To address these limitations and obtain an appropriate counterfactual, we employ a quasi-experimental design using data from Spain, where district magnitude changes by only one seat in some districts and elections. Our findings align with previous research, confirming that the number of electoral parties increases with district magnitude, particularly in low-magnitude districts.

Why path dependence leads to a fossilized Alberta: regionalism and the climate transition in Canada

ABSTRACT Canada is the world’s fourth largest producer of oil and fifth largest producer of natural gas. Yet, the country faces a ‘twin’ challenge in tackling the climate crisis. On the one hand, Canada’s federal climate goals state that it must achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. On the other hand, regionalism stronghold in fossil-producing provinces lead to difficult trade-offs between an ambitious climate transition and reluctant actors supporting the fossil fuel industry. This situation is characterized as ‘fossilized’ petro-provinces by political scientist Angela Carter. This article explores how Alberta, Canada’s largest oil and natural gas producer, became fossilized. The article develops a path dependence argument organized around the role of regionalism in Alberta’s political development. Regionalism is a crucial persistent feature of Alberta to explain its fossilization because it influenced the formation of an interdependence between the government and the industry, a distinct political culture, and a conservative-led party system.

The institutionalisation of parliamentary party groups. Towards a concept

ABSTRACT Notable efforts have been made to apply the institutionalisation concept to legislatures, parties and party systems. In contrast, parliamentary party groups (PPGs) were either side-lined or bundled under the concept of institutionalised parliaments and parties, which implies some conceptual confusion. However, PPGs should be treated as distinct topic given their role in stabilising the parliamentary business in all modern assemblies. Encouraging research to close that gap, we introduce a framework to study the institutionalisation of PPGs for which we use illustrations from various polities. We suggest that highly institutionalised groups exhibit stable personnel, coherent legislative behaviour, structural differentiation, well-established procedural routines, and autonomy in terms of policy decision-making, leadership selection, and resources. Also, we examine PPGs as embedded institutions and provide a conceptual map for varying relationships with the institutionalisation of parliaments and parties. Finally, we point to a widely unexplored field for comparative research including investigations on democratisation.

Electoral rules and the two-party system: A methodological inquiry with reference to Duverger’s law

The law of Duverger posits that the single-member plurality electoral system favours the two-party system. The empirical tests of Duvergerian effects often rely on the effective number of parties as the most common measure of party system fragmentation. This study, proceeding from the notion that more focused measures of two-partyness could be of greater utility for this purpose, examines the build-up of two already existing, albeit underused, indices that are intended to operationalize the concept of the two-party system and introduces a new family of party-system indices for the purpose of cross-validation. The quantitative analysis performed on simulated and real-life datasets shows that the measures of two-partyness can improve the methods of inquiry in research on Duvergerian effects, and that some of the indices introduced in this study can serve as useful supplements to the toolkit of political science.

Historical development of political structures in the context of the modern russian-ukrainian war: key vectors

Introduction: The study aims to analyze the evolution of political institutions in Ukraine. Hence, the main objective is to analyze the evolution of political institutions in Ukraine within the framework of the modern Russian-Ukrainian war, with an emphasis on the main vectors of change and their impact on the country's political system. Methods: The research employed content analysis, thematic analysis, and coding to systematically examine relevant scientific literature and other sources on the topic. These methods were applied to identify and categorize Ukraine's political structures' main themes and transformations.Results: The results determined that the most significant changes in the system of development of political structures took place after the Revolution of Dignity and the beginning of the Russian invasion of Crimea in 2014, which necessitated systemic changes in the political organization of Ukraine. It was also established that Russian aggression influenced active transformations in the political structures of Ukraine, in particular, the modernization of the state apparatus, the growing role of civil society, active international support, decentralization of power, and strengthening of national identity. Conclusions: The conclusions also emphasize that there are challenges related to the crisis of confidence in parliamentarism and the party system. However, the study recognized that the transformations that took place as a result of Russian aggression created new opportunities for the development of the state body and political structures of Ukraine

Political Knowledge in the Context of Changing Institutions

Citizen political knowledge is conventionally measured with survey questions developed for use in the industrialized wealthy democracies. In this paper, we argue that certain characteristics of political institutions and party systems that are relatively common in unconsolidated democracies and mixed regimes are likely to constrain the acquisition of political knowledge as traditionally measured. Using data from Latin America, Africa, and the countries included in the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems, we examine the relationship between contextual factors and average levels of political knowledge across countries, measured both through civics knowledge and the ideological placement of political parties. We provide evidence consistent with the idea that citizens have fewer opportunities and are less motivated to acquire political knowledge in contexts where political institutions and actors frequently change and where young and nonprogrammatic parties are the norm.

Политический проективизм в партийном строительстве

To this day, political design is the subject of academic and public discussions, the result of which is the realization of private, rational, rather than social, interests related to ideas and ideologies. To the greatest extent, this criticism affects the processes of party building. In the mass (and partly in expert) consciousness, parties are defined as institutions aimed at promoting social interests. Within the framework of such views, any emerging and developing project is considered as a de-ideologized formation, based on the rational goals and motives of its participants. Accordingly, the assessment of political projectivism in party building is an important and relevant research task and forms the purpose of this article. The methodological basis of the study was made up of systemic and neo-institutional approaches, the combination of which made it possible to consider political design as a sustainable practice, implemented in the system of political interaction and transforming the essence of modern party organizations. The study also took into account the projective approach of public administration, which defines projects as key components of political (and party) functioning. The main research methods were the general scientific principles of analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, comparison, as well as the applied method of situational analysis (case-study), which made it possible to determine the significance of political projectivism in their formation and functioning using specific examples of Russian parties. The conclusions of the article are that in the processes of modern party building, political projectivism is a natural and integral process of insti-tutional interaction. It is associated with both objective processes of transformation of modern political and party systems, as well as political parties themselves, and with the subjective orientations of political figures to obtain and maintain positions of power, based on rational planning and use of their available resources. As Russian party history shows, the implementation of party projects can have negative and positive aspects associated with the implementation of activities by such parties, which are also of a pro-ject nature and focused on working with the electorate, including those involving the solution of certain social issues.

Party System Institutionalization and Party Institutionalization : Concept, Measurement, and Implications to South Korea

Party System Institutionalization and Party Institutionalization : Concept, Measurement, and Implications to South Korea

Peculiarities of the social structure of the electorate of left-wing parties in the EU countries

The article is devoted to the analysis of the political situation in the European Union, focusing on changes in support for left-wing parties in the context of global challenges. Transformations in the electoral preferences of EU citizens caused by economic and political turmoil and international conflicts are considered. The main focus is on the growing popularity of radical left populist parties. The analysis shows that traditional left-wing parties are losing support due to insufficiently radical proposals, which leads to fragmentation of their electorate. Radicalization of political sentiment is seen as a serious challenge, as radical movements are less predictable and can create political instability in the region. In this regard, analysts are faced with the question of possible changes in the political landscape, which is especially important in the context of tense international relations and sanctions pressure on Russia. The author emphasizes the need to understand political changes and forecast their consequences in order to develop effective electoral forecasts. The article considers the main results of the 2024 European Parliament elections, their impact on electoral preferences and changes in the EU political landscape. The theoretical approaches and empirical studies of leading domestic and foreign scholars in the field of studying party systems are analyzed, which allows us to assess current and future trends in European politics. The work also touches upon the issues of uniting left-wing forces in opposition to right-wing parties, as well as possible scenarios for the development of the political situation in the European Parliament and its impact on international relations and interstate interaction.

The conditional effects of party system change on economic growth in Africa

The conditional effects of party system change on economic growth in Africa

Individual Electoral Competitiveness: Undecided voters, complex choice environments and lower turnout

The number of citizens that are undecided in their vote choice has risen in Western democracies. Polling in Britain shows that a significant proportion of the population do not know who they will vote for. Against a backdrop of partisan dealignment and party system fragmentation, there are more parties on the ballot and more citizens ‘free to choose’. Partisanship continues to be important for voting and lacking an identity is a predictor of aggregate voter volatility. A growing literature conceptualises this availability of voters as individual-level electoral competitiveness, stating that undecided citizens are subject to high levels of competition for their vote. I use this framework and apply theory from the decisionmaking literature to offer why these conditions may depress turnout. I construct a measure of undecided voters who are ‘in competition’ and show that this accounts for 40% of the British Election Study Internet Panel respondents. I demonstrate that those who are in competition are less likely to vote. They are more often those without a partisan identity and those who pay less attention to politics, but being in competition is not related to constituency marginality. The results help explain a key determinant of abstention in British elections and suggest low levels of participation may be due to complex choice environments and citizen indecision. However, they provide a positive outlook for pluralistic democracy as voters do deliberate between the party perspectives on offer.

Party system ideological polarization in Western Europe: data, trends, drivers, and links with other key party system properties (1945–2021)

ABSTRACT Unlike other key party system properties (e.g. fragmentation, volatility), polarization lacks a publicly available cross-national and longitudinal dataset that can be used as an established source among the scientific community. This article aims to fill this gap by introducing a novel publicly available dataset of party system ideological polarization in Western European party systems. The dataset relies on multiple expert surveys and provides measures of party system ideological polarization for each parliamentary election and legislature in 20 Western European countries since 1945. The article also presents party system polarization’s comparative longitudinal trends, drivers, and links with other key party system properties. It finds that party system ideological polarization is on the rise in Western Europe, mainly due to a progressive shift in the electoral support from ideologically moderate mainstream parties to more extreme challenger parties. Moreover, in recent years, high party system polarization has recurred in highly fragmented and volatile contexts, thus creating a detrimental context for the working of democracy.

Italy between liberalism and democracy: universal suffrage and the 1913 elections

Abstract In 1912, the Italian parliament approved the extension of male suffrage, making it ‘almost’ universal. This process of revising representation transformed the very idea of the relationship between citizens and the state and shaped a profoundly different Italy. The aim of this article is to trace both the process leading to the approval of universal suffrage and its impact on the party system. With a compilation and analysis of data developed from scratch for the elections of 1909 and 1913, it was possible to analyse the main dimensions of the two rounds in a disaggregated manner. Three aspects make 1913 a year of transition. First, the degree of competition in the electoral process, especially in the South, increased considerably. Second, the decline of liberal formations was not transformed into defeat, thanks only to the Catholic vote. Third, the birth of the Popular Party and the failure to create a mass party of conservatives were causes of the imbalance in the party structure.