Chapter 15 - Political parties

Question 1

Define a political party

Answer 1

A group identified by name and ideology that fields candidates at elections in order to win public office and control.

Question 2

What are the five roles of a political party

Answer 2

Government

Guidance (Ge väljarna alternativ att rösta på)

Aggregation (Omvandla många åsikter till genomförbara projekt)

Mobilization (Uppmuntra väljare att delta i politiken)

Recruitment (Förbereda kandidater att bli förtroendevalda)

Question 3

Define party system

Answer 3

The overall configuration of political parties based on their number, their relative importance, the interactions among them, and the laws that regulate them.

Question 4

What is Duverger’s law?

Answer 4

More of a hypothesis than a universal law, this holds that “The simple-majority single-ballot system favors the two-party system”.

Question 5

What five party systems are mentioned in the book?

Answer 5

No-party (Quatar, Saudi-Arabia)

Single-party (China, North Korea)

Dominant party (South Africa, Russia, Japan)

Two-party (United states)

Multi-party (Most of Europe)

Question 6

What 8 party families are there mainly in Europe?

Answer 6

Far left (V)
Green (MP) 
Social Democrat (S) 
Christian Democrat (KD) 
Conservative 
Centre (C)
Liberal (L)
Far right (SD) 

(Also regional parties, e.g. Salas bästa)

Question 7

Define Niche party

Answer 7

A political party that appeals to a narrow section of electorate. They are positioned away from the established centre and highlight one particular issue.

Question 8

What is Iron law of oligarchy?

Answer 8

As developed by Robert Michels this states that the organization of political parties - even those formally committed to democracy - becomes dominated by a ruling elite

Question 9

Define safe district

Answer 9

An electoral district in which a political party has such strong support that its candidate/s are all but assured of victory

Question 10

Define selectorate

Answer 10

The people who nominate a party’s candidate for an election

Question 11

What is a primary election?

Answer 11

A contest in which a party’s supporters selects its candidate for a subsequent election (direct or primary), or choose delegates to the presidential nominating convention (a presidential primary). A closed primary is limited to a party’s registered supporters.

Question 12

Define a Cartel Party

Answer 12

Leading parties that exploit their combined dominance of the political market to establish rules of the game, such as public funding, which reinforces its own strong position.