Regional Party Systems Research Articles

INFLUENCE OF ETHNO-REGIONAL PARTIES ON STABILITY OF ETHNOFEDERALISM

At present, both in political science and in politics, the attitude towards the phenomenon of ethno-regional parties remains quite controversial. On the one hand, it is believed that ethno-regional parties, being the main indicator of secessionist sentiments, make it possible for the central government to form a stable system of interaction with ethnic regions. On the other hand, there is an opinion that ethno-regional parties, on the contrary, produce secessionist processes. In either case, the phenomenon remains relevant for today. In the article, the author makes an attempt to rethink the phenomenon of ethno-regional parties with the help of the quantitative analysis. The research is focused on testing the influence of the following parameters of party systems on the stability of ethnofederalism: fragmentation and volatility of party systems in ethno-regional autonomies, the share of ethno-regional parties in those, their nature, and fragmentation of ethno-regional parties. The influence of these variables on the stability of ethnofederalism was confirmed by a statistically significant coefficient. The study found that the stability of the political system depends not so much on the presence or absence of ethno-regional parties but rather on their configuration within the regional party system. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17072/2218-1067-2018-4-78-90

Where and why can expatriates vote in regional elections? A comparative analysis of regional electoral practices in Europe and North America

ABSTRACTThe article constitutes the first systematic attempt to survey and account for the enfranchisement of non-resident citizens in regional elections. Shifting the focus away from the state to the regional demos, it is divided into two parts. First, it examines whether the spectacular horizontal diffusion of external voting legislation widely observed in existing scholarship has also spread vertically to regional elections, through a comparative overview of the conditions of eligibility to the regional franchise in 292 American and European regions. The remarkable diversity of regional electoral arrangements both within and across states calls for a more in-depth explanatory analysis of the ‘micro-foundations of diaspora policy’ in specific regions. The second part thus compares two negative cases, Flanders and Scotland, where expanding the franchise to expatriates has been seriously considered and yet ultimately failed. It goes on to examine the frustrated outcome in the light of three dimensions of the political opportunity structure: whether the region has the power to alter the composition of the demos (self-determination powers), the expected electoral gains and losses among political parties within the regional party system (electoral interests), and the (in)compatibility of extending the suffrage to expatriates with the pursuit of autonomy goals (self-determination aims).

Why Are There so Many or so Few Parties?

Prior to the 2002 electoral reform, political parties in Russia’s regional legislative elections showed poor performance. Since December 2003, however, all regions have been obliged to elect no less than half of the members of their assemblies by proportional representation. As a result, party competition at the sub-national level became unavoidable. This study tests three kinds of hypotheses dealing with the institutional, sociological, and political factors in the fragmentation of party systems within Russia’s regions. The analysis demonstrates that political factors, especially the activity of the Kremlin and the heads of regional executives, have played the primary role in shaping regional party systems.

Follow the Candidates, Not the Parties? Personal Vote in a Regional De-institutionalized Party System

ABSTRACTThis article analyses how personal vote shapes electoral competition and predicts electoral results in a regional de-institutionalized party system. After having analysed the connection between unpredictable political environment and personal vote, we build an original empirical model that explores preferential vote and patterns of re-candidacies and endorsements of the most voted candidates in the Calabrian regional elections. The analysis shows that leading candidates retain a more stable and predictable support over time with respect to parties and that candidates and their system of interactions are able to predict the electoral results better than parties and their alliances.

Legislative Voting Behaviour in the Regional Party System: An Analysis of Roll-Call Votes in the South Korean National Assembly, 2000–8

This article explores legislative voting behaviour in the regional party system where electoral competition is based primarily on geographic divisions instead of national public policies. An analysis of roll-call votes in the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea from 2000 to 2008 reveals that in the regionalized context, legislative voting unity is high because legislators are disciplined to receive endorsement from their regional champion party. Those legislators are far more disciplined when voting on pork legislation. Nonetheless, as the socioeconomic status of constituents rises and the constituents thus care more about policy than pork, then opposition legislators tend to vote against their parties more often. Conversely, governing-party members are more disciplined to pass bills where voters often desire policy over pork. This study suggests a powerful interaction between party affiliations and voter demands as a dominant electoral strategic tool in the regional party system.

Bye-Bye Bipolarism: The 2015 Regional Elections and the New Shape of Regional Party Systems in Italy

In May 2015, 19 million Italians were called to renew the legislative assemblies and presidencies of seven regions, thus concluding an electoral cycle begun in February 2013 that involved all the 15 ordinary statute regions. Beyond their immediate relevance – of the 15 incumbent presidents only three were confirmed in office – these elections represented a turning point for regional party systems, paralleling the earthquake of the 2013 general elections. The ‘fragmented bipolarism’ characterising elections in Italy at the two levels since the mid-1990s, has been replaced by a multipolar competition, as a consequence of the consolidating presence of the Movimento 5 Stelle and the internal divisions of the centre-right coalition. At the same time, fragmentation of regional councils has remained high. The evolution of regional party systems and patterns of competition are analysed in this paper, taking into account the electoral offer, turnout and results in the majoritarian and proportional arenas of the 15 ordinary statute regions.

The challenges of de-regionalism and the ups and downs of regional hegemonic party system : the evaluation of the 6th Yeongnam local election

The challenges of de-regionalism and the ups and downs of regional hegemonic party system : the evaluation of the 6th Yeongnam local election

Canadian Party Politics in the 2000s: A Re-examination of the Regionalization Thesis

Since the 1990s scholars of party politics have written of the increasing regionalization of Canadian party politics, going as far as to label the current system 'balkanized'. Using three widely established measures of party nationalization (party coverage, uniformity of support, and patterns of electoral competition), and one new measure (analysis of party advertisements), this paper explores the regionalization thesis in the post 1990s political landscape. While there is widespread consensus in the literature that the Canadian party system is highly regionalized, this paper provides evidence to the contrary. Rather than a balkanization of Canadian electoral and party politics we are witnessing a re-nationalization of Canadian party politics. This is especially true for those parties that compete in English Canada. Where regionalization does still exist is in the province of Quebec. Not only does the Bloc Quebecois represent a regionalizing force in itself, but the party's very presence alters the strategies of the other parties that compete in Quebec. As a result of the different dynamics of party competition in Quebec, we are left with two distinct party systems: a regional party system in Quebec and a national party system in the rest of Canada.

Understanding Electoral Phenomena of Korean Regionalism from the Perspectives of New Institutionalism: Focusing on the Path-Dependency of Regional Party System

Understanding Electoral Phenomena of Korean Regionalism from the Perspectives of New Institutionalism: Focusing on the Path-Dependency of Regional Party System

Regional party system, causal attribution, and economic voting in new democracies: The case of the 2007 Korean presidential election

How do citizens in new democracies locate the target of responsibility for economic conditions, and how do political cleavages mediate citizens’ attribution process and their consequences? To answer these important but little-studied questions, this study analyzes the 2007 presidential election in Korea. Primary findings in this study elucidate the need to consider the role of political cleavages in explaining economic voting in new democracies. Specifically, even after controlling for economic salience and voters’ political sophistication, political cleavages (represented by hometown and regional partisanship) exercise a clear and significant influence on voters’ attribution process and their electoral choices. Thus, in new democracies, in particular in Korea, the attribution of responsibility clearly works in a manner different from that in established democracies. Although focused on the case of Korea, the results of this study have important implications for economic voting in any new democracy.

Multi-level Party Systems in Spain

This article compares party systems in Spain from a multi-level perspective, evaluating structures of party competition and processes of party system change at central and regional levels, with a view to understanding their broader impact on territorial dynamics in Spanish politics. Since the 1990s, the central party system has become characterized by intense bipolarization between state-wide parties and wholesale alternation in government. Although a similar process of bipolarization has occurred in most (but not all) regional party systems, the effects in terms of coalition formation and government alternation are very different. Spanish regions are characterized by innovative coalitions between state-wide and non-state-wide parties, with patterns of government alternation that diverge from the central level. A majority of regions are characterized by predominant party systems with no alternation in government, while others see partial alternation where small regionalist parties form promiscuous coalitions with state-wide parties to stay perpetually in office. Meanwhile, the large bilingual regions (Catalonia, Basque Country, Galicia) have all shifted from predominant party systems to more competitive ones characterized by wholesale alternation, but with underlying structures of competition and party coalitions that differ significantly from the central level. Curiously, incongruence in multi-level party systems has so far proven to be a largely stabilizing factor in the territorial politics of Spain. It has contributed to ending the monopoly of regional government by powerful nationalist parties in Catalonia and the Basque Country, while not undermining the core features of party competition at central level. It has drawn state-wide and nationalist/regionalist parties into closer collaboration, so helping to blunt the edge of territorial conflicts. Yet enduring incongruence in multi-level party systems could ultimately induce more centrifugal pressures on the Spanish state. Through their electoral competition and coalitional relations with nationalist parties, regional branches of state-wide parties are more likely to develop positions that conflict with the central leadership, whether on policy issues, coalitional options or regional autonomy and influence. Such developments are already occurring in the most autonomous regional branches of state-wide parties, where regional leaders have built on existing asymmetrical arrangements to pursue distinct policies and coalitions, while advancing more autonomist positions on state design. If these developments became more widespread they could undermine the organizational coherence of state-wide parties, perhaps shifting the balance of power in territorial politics.

Small Worlds in Canada and Europe: A Comparison of Regional Party Systems in Quebec, Bavaria and Scotland

Quebec, Bavaria and Scotland are three regions nested within multi-level states. Each has a pronounced territorial identity and a strong stateless nationalist and regionalist party (SNRP), factors that have contributed to an important territorial cleavage in political life. This contribution explores the dynamics of these regional party systems in a comparative analysis, by revisiting the approach set out by David Elkins and Richard Simeon in their seminal work on Small Worlds. Three indicators of distinctive political ‘small worlds’, which were originally identified by Elkins and Simeon in 1980, are discussed and applied in the context of present-day regional politics in Canada and Europe. These are: (1) the (in)congruence of party systems and competition at the regional and state levels; (2) the adaptation of statewide parties to the regional level; and (3) the conduct of party competition on regional issues. Following an analysis of these issues in each of the cases, the concluding section considers the continuing relevance of the Small Worlds thesis for our understanding of regional party politics in Canada, Europe and beyond.

‘How Can We Explain Diversity in Metropolitan Governance within a Country?’ Some Reflections on Recent Developments in Germany

In the debate on metropolitan governance, a commonly expressed hypothesis is that the reconstruction of statehood can take metropolitan governance along a variety of paths. This is especially true for Germany, where we can identify a great diversity of organizational forms of cooperation at the level of metropolitan agglomerations. This article addresses the question of how diversity within a country with more or less uniform institutional structures can be explained on the basis of a comparison of three German regions. We examine whether and how such differences can be explained as a combination of structural and other variables. Our starting hypothesis is that case-specific structural variables matter - for example, the position of the core cities of the regions in the international hierarchy of cities, the economic structure of the regions, or the dominance or polarization within the regional party system. Furthermore, the hypothesis will be considered that spatially embedded cooperative actor behaviour and actor-related factors, including political leadership and specific incentive structures or windows of opportunities, also matter. We conclude that such a double reading of the transformation of metropolitan governance is the most appropriate way to understand differences in metropolitan governance arrangements.

Party System Nationalisation and Non-uniform Vote Switching. Evidence from the Czech Republic

National rather than regional party systems are the norm in most democratic states. This has been interpreted as meaning that most voters view inter-party competition in the same way. With a high level of party system nationalisation the relative proportion of electoral support attracted by par- ties across all constituencies tends to be very similar although the absolute level of party support changes across elections. Sociological and institutional explanations have been used to account for party system nationalisation. Both of these explanations have generally made causal inferences using aggregate data. The link between party system nationalisation and the individual voter has not been examined in the same detail. Here this link is explored using an ecological inference analysis of vote switching. This research, using the Czech Republic as a case study, shows that the presence of high party system nationalisation evident across a pair of elections may be associated with non- uniform electoral swings. These results demonstrate that evidence of party system nationalisation should not be taken to mean that all voters view elec- toral choices in the same way.

Multi-level Election Timing—A Comparative Overview

This article compiles information on multi-level electoral politics in nine countries, starting with multi-level election cycles: horizontal concurrence and vertical concurrence. In addition to the cycle of federal and regional elections, this report looks at election rules for federal and regional elections: fixed election date, possibility of vertical concurrence, dissolution of regional assemblies, length of term after dissolution and the electoral systems for state-wide and regional elections. These election rules and the cycle of state-wide and regional elections contribute to either encouraging the symmetry between the state-wide and regional party systems or, on the contrary, facilitating the divergence between state-wide and regional political arenas and electoral cycles.

Spain: Identity Boundaries and Political Reconstruction

The aim of this article is to look at the political implications of identity patterns in one case that is of exceptional interest, that of Spain. It begins by looking at the nature of identity, and the challenges it poses in the contemporary world. This is followed by a section examining the issue of collective identity in the Spanish context, exploring variation in forms of regional identity and relating this to new political structures in the regions. The two last sections look respectively at the manner in which the regional party systems reflect diverse patterns of identity and the challenges posed by these patterns for the system of government.

The political systems of Italian regions between state-wide logics and increasing differentiation

The aim of this article is to describe the evolution of the Italian regional party systems 25 years after the establishment of 15 Ordinary Statute regions and five years after the implementation of a major Constitutional reform increasing the powers of the regions and the visibility of regional political actors. The theoretical point of departure of the article is the second order election model originally applied to European elections to highlight their dependence on the national political level. The article begins by showing that this model has been applicable for regional elections only since the mid-1990s, a finding that goes against the conventional wisdom. The article then explains the structure of regional political competition through the analysis of two phenomena, fragmentation and differentiation, and the way they are correlated, stressing the changing pattern of competition before and after the breakdown of the First Republic.

Coalition Formation and Party Systems in the Italian Regions

Few studies have focused on coalition formation in the Italian Ordinary Status (OS) regions. Studies that implicitly considered this issue have tended to highlight its nationalized features, particularly the congruence of pre-electoral coalitions and the absence of region-specific parties. Yet these studies have overlooked the intra-coalitional dynamics of regional party systems, ignored the post-electoral dimension of coalition formation, and failed to explain regional variations in the intensity of inter-coalitional party competition. This article incorporates these dimensions of analysis to argue that coalition formation in the Italian OS regions displays strong territorial features, which are directly linked to the “format” and “structures of competition” (Sartori, 1976) in regional party systems. These dual structures of regional party competition are heavily affected by the heterogeneous distribution of electoral support for state-wide parties, the presence or absence of non-state-wide parties (Northern League, Udeur), the diverse coalitional behaviour of Italian parties, and the distinctive patterns of electoral hierarchy in regional governing coalitions. The introduction of a new regional electoral system (proportional representation with majoritarian bonus) has also produced distinct coalitional incentives, leading to ‘perfect’ patterns of inter-coalitional bipolarism. Regional elections in Italy are confirmed as vital processes of national coalition testing.

Issue salience in regional party manifestos in Spain

Abstract. This article analyses the dynamics of electoral competition in a multilevel setting. It is based on a content analysis of the party manifestos of the Spanish PP and PSOE in eight regional elections held between 2001 and 2003. It provides an innovative coding scheme for analysing regional party manifestos and on that basis seeks to account for inter‐regional, intra‐party and inter‐party differences in regional campaigning. The authors have tried to explain the inter‐regional variation of the issue profiles of state‐wide parties in regional elections on the basis of a model with four independent variables: the asymmetric nature of the system, the electoral cycle, the regional party systems and the organisation of the state‐wide parties. Three of their hypotheses are rejected, but the stronger variations in the regional issue profiles of the PSOE corroborate the assumption that parties with a more decentralised party organisation support regionally more diverse campaigning. The article concludes by offering an alternative explanation for this finding and by suggesting avenues for further research.

The Constituency Work of Members of the Scottish Parliament and National Assembly for Wales: Approaches, Relationships and Rules

The Scottish Parliament and National Assembly for Wales electoral systems created both constituency and list members. The article discusses hypotheses for exploring their behaviour and notes the particular context of regional party systems dominated to a greater or lesser extent by the Labour party. The authors find that constituency members of the Scottish Parliament and the National Assembly broadly conduct more constituency work than list members, although the extent of list member is still significant for a variety of reasons. The qualitative nature of list member constituency work is not systematically different from that of constituency members. Nevertheless, there are variations in list member approaches. Constituency and list member perceptions of list member work also differ and this has become a serious source of controversy. Relationships between constituency and list members, and between devolved representatives and MPs, are competitive or co-operative, predominantly in relation to partisan interest. In both Scotland and Wales predominantly Labour constituency members have critical views of the roles of list members and have contested the rules governing constituency work. This has been alleviated to some extent by commitments to political pluralism, though more in Scotland than in Wales.