Party Democracy or Party Oligarchy? Flashcards
What is a trustee democracy model? What is a delegate democracy model? - Party Democracy or Party Oligarchy?
Trustee: whereby elected representatives act on their own judgement without consideration for their constituents when making decisions
Delegate: whereby elected representatives are expected to use their constituents’ opinions to formulate their judgements and act in their constituents’ interests
What was Burke’s idealised model of representative democracy? - Party Democracy or Party Oligarchy?
Burke favoured a trustee model of democracy, believing the opinions, views and desires of the public to be fallible and that an elected representative’s judgement would be superior to these. Burke argued that if a representative favours their constituents’ opinions, they are betraying these constituents.
In what political unit does Schattschneider view democracy operating in? - Party Democracy or Party Oligarchy?
Schattschneider believes that ‘democracy is unthinkable save in terms of parties’ - they are the primary unit that facilitates and operates in a democratic system. Without them, democracy would potentially not exist.
Define what a party system is. How do Webb and Bale argue that party systems are constituted? - Party Democracy or Party Oligarchy?
A party system is the interaction of parties within a certain state. Webb and Bale argue that systems are constituted by repeated interactions between components over time.
Explain how the constitutional nature/system of a state shapes a party system - Party Democracy or Party Oligarchy?
Whether a state is authoritarian or liberal democratic in its nature often determines how many/what parties operate in a country. For example, a single party system in China which has factions within the CCP is created by the authoritarianism of China, whereas European states with multiple parties are so because of their liberal democratic values.
Explain how divisions in society can shape the operation of party systems - Party Democracy or Party Oligarchy?
The nature of societal cleavages (ie. worker vs owner, church vs state, land vs industry, etc) shapes which portions of society parties attempt to appeal to, hence forming the basis for party support and systems.
Explain how electoral systems can shape party systems - Party Democracy or Party Oligarchy?
The rules set for elections and the outcomes produced from these shape party systems. For instance, majoritarian systems favour larger parties and create 2 party systems, whereas proportional systems favour smaller parties and create multi-party systems.
Describe the electoral system operating in the UK - Party Democracy or Party Oligarchy?
The UK has 650 constituencies, with 1 MP for each constituency. Each MP is elected on a plurality system, having to win more votes than their closest challenger in a winner takes all system. This generally creates majority governments, as well as a 2 party domination of electoral politics.
Explain Duverger’s Law - Party Democracy or Party Oligarchy?
Duverger’s Law is the concept that, through only requiring a plurality of votes cast in each constituency to win a seat, SMP (essentially FPTP) creates a 2 party system.
If STV were to have been used in the 2019 General Election, what would have been produced for a ‘progressive alliance’ and a ‘conservative alliance’? - Party Democracy or Party Oligarchy?
If STV were used in 2019, this would have produced near parity for a ‘progressive alliance’ of LAB, LD and Greens with a ‘conservative alliance’ of CON, DUP and Brexit Party.
What has been the general trend for party membership, party identification and election turnouts in the UK recently? - Party Democracy or Party Oligarchy?
Party memberships, identification and election turnouts have all fallen in the UK recently.
Summarise the arguments of Peter Mair on political parties/electorates in the present day - Party Democracy or Party Oligarchy?
Mair argues that parties are withdrawing from their public-facing roles in favour of becoming more integrated into the apparatus of government. The electorate is also aligning less with individual parties and engaging less with democratic practices. This undermines the operation of democracy as it is understood and as it functions today.
Explain Castoriadis’ arguments about the role and power of political parties? What does his assertion mean for the power of Parliaments? - Party Democracy or Party Oligarchy?
Castoriadis argues that Parliaments themselves have no power, instead that they are puppeteered by the dominant parties within them that also tend to control the Executive of a given country. There is no separation of powers here.
Explain Katz and Mair’s concept of mass parties - Party Democracy or Party Oligarchy?
Mass parties operate as a bridge between civil society and the state. They are involved in each THOUGH ‘ANCHORED IN CIVIL SOCIETY’ and act to mediate between the two.
Explain Katz and Mair’s concept of ‘catch-all parties’ - Party Democracy or Party Oligarchy?
‘Catch-all parties’ have disengaged from civil society, and are rooted in the state. They act as a ‘broker’ from the state towards civil society, selling ideas formulated in government rather than taking ideas into government from the aggregation of views.
