Political Parties Flashcards
What is a hegemonic party system
Main party always wins but teeth are other parties that are not serious competitors
Eg. Mexico
What is a polarised party system
A big question divides the political spectrum in half
What kind of party system does FPTP naturally create
Two party system
What is anti politics
People don’t feel represented by parties and join other groups such as direct action and pressure groups
These can be peaceful or violent or even terrorist groups
Rise of social protests
Rise of anti politics political parties - outsiders
How does a party system become institutionalised
Regular patterns of party competition - election volatility as measure
Party becomes rooted in society- has connections with citizens
Actors accord legitimacy to parties and electoral processes
Party organisations matter and are not subordinate to the will of ambitious leaders
What are the problems of a weak party system and lack of institutionalisation
Volatile political results
Low quality of representation
Lower vertical and horizontal accountability
Reduced capacity to implement policies - gridlock
Patrimonial practices of clientelism and corruption
Elites have more access to politics through clientelism - policies may ignore working class views
Greater space for populists - often authoritarian and engage in economic populism
Governability effected - societal conflict not transferred to the electoral arena - paves way for praetorianism - military control
How has deinstitutionalisation occurred in Latin America
Ideologies no longer organising parties post Cold War
Only in a few countries such as chile can ideology predict a vote
Reduction of state functions and the expansion of the private sphere - less for parties to do
Growth of media- cardoso “more useful for an aspiring politician to own a tv station than a political party
Decrease in party loyalty as ideology no longer act as a glue binding citizens to parties
Growth of informal labour sector - growing mass of voters without attachment to organised channels of participation - incorporating them into formal politics shown to be beyond the capabilities of formal parties
How does Columbia show parties may not be as necessary
Oldest system of parties in LA - duopoly of liberal and conservatives
After corruption and clientelism 1991 constitutional assembly and reformation of Magna Carta aimed to create a pluralist system
Conservative party near extinction and growth of independent candidates - association with old parties electoral liability
1998 Pastrana wins as independent, 2002 Uribe wins as independent
2 Uribe ideology ‘parties’ formed - more heterogeneous coalitions- no power beyond their patriarch
Less left/right parties more uribista v anti Uribe axis -conservative party now supports his ideologies while the liberal party opposes it
With strong independent candidates parties not necessary for presidential election- what about legislature
Politics structured around one personality leads to under-institutionalisation
Explain party deinstitutionalisation in Venezuela
One of few uninterrupted democracies in Latin America
Accion democratica and social Christian parties (AD and COPEI)
Cemented loyalty through public distribution funded mainly by oil
Oil price drop led to unmet demands
Long held resentment against corruption and ignored grievances led to the 1989 Carazco (street riots)
1973-1988 AD + COPEI gained combined 90%+ votes, 1993 - 43%
Two self styled anti system candidates won 52%
1998 outsider Chavez won, AD COPEI percentage dropped
Chavez cut of funding to parties
parties failed to new demands, interests and grievances, voters reject parties structured on old lines
Now competitive authoritarianism, with erosion of checks and balances on executive, increasing personal presidential power and withering away of democratic governance
How is chile an exception to party system deinstitutionalism
Parties historical backbone of Chilean politics, with system resembling those in Western Europe, characterised by parties with defined ideological identities, loyal class based partisans and disciplined party cadres
Dictatorship did not uproot parties strong mooring in society
System fully institutionalised - high stability in inter party competition
No newcomer or outsider has broken in
Potentially over institutionalised for a time - same coalition led from 1991 until 2010 - Chileans becoming more disenchanted and distanced from parties
Explain party deinstitutionalisation in Argentina
Greatest erosion in party system institutionalisation in southern cone -parties never backbone of political system
Interests mainly structured through corporatist arrangements
Peronist and radical parties formed after ww2, after 1983 return to democracy Peronist party excepted legitimacy of political competition
1995 statement as institutionalised hasty - followed by rise and fall of new parties, high electoral abstention, decline in partisan attachment
2001 socioeconomic crisis- vilification of political class and parties “kick all the politicians out” cry - 2002 -4% trusted parties, 2003 radical party gained 2% of votes - no longer viable contender
Peronist party weathered crisis through patronage + clientelistic network
Hegemonic system -only opposition from within now - no longer united
- 2003 3 Peronist candidates ran under different banners
2015 macri elected - first non radical or Peronist since 1916- member of republican proposal party, which he formed in 2005 as and alliance and party in 2010
2017 party joined international democratic union - alliance of right and centre right parties
What party had corporate agreements as the backbone of its historical structure rather than parties
Argentina
What did cardoso say
It’s more useful for an aspiring politician to own a news station than a political party
Who said “It’s more useful for an aspiring politician to own a news station than a political party”
Cardoso
What is increased military influence called
praetorianism
