Political Parties and Party Systems

Question 1

What is a parliamentary democracy? What is a presidential democracy? What is a semi-presidential democracy?

Answer 1

Parliamentary democracy - the government depends on a legislative majority to exist and the head of state is not popularly elected for a fixed term
Presidential democracy - the government does not depend on a legislative majority to exist. Elected separately.
Semi-presidential democracy - the government depends on a legislative majority to exist AND the head of state is popularly elected for a fixed term.

Question 2

What is Burke’s definition of a political party? What do more critical definitions value in defining a party?

Answer 2

Burke states that a party is ‘a body of men, united for promoting by their joint endeavours the national interest, upon some particular principle in which they are all agreed.’
More critical definitions emphasise elites desiring power and influence.

Question 3

What are the objectives of parties?

Answer 3

To gain control over government power in order to pursue interests. They operate in the electoral or government arena.

Question 4

What are the functions of a political party?

Answer 4

To COORDINATE policies between society and government, providing a label that can be identified by the public.
REPRESENT interests, aggregating these into a policy platform
MOBILISATION AND PARTICIPATION
FORMING POLICY
RECRUITING LEADERS

Question 5

What is Schattschneider’s view on the importance of parties? How has this been disputed?

Answer 5

Schattschneider believes that there would be no modern democracy without political parties. This has been disputed, as many feel like they have become endemic in democratic politics, rather than an essential feature.

Question 6

Why did the Founding Fathers resent parties in ideals for democracy?

Answer 6

The Founding Fathers believed parties to be representations of factions, which would often go against the general will and impose this on people. They were also believed to undermine government stability and popular government.

Question 7

Explain V.O. Key Jr’s 3 typologies of political parties… in-the-electorate, in-government and as-organisation

Answer 7

• The party-in-the-electorate - the party of the campaign, the party’s image and reputation in the public’s mind, providing informational shortcuts. Essentially, public perspectives of a party, an image.
• The party-in-government - the party that organises the legislature and coordinates actions within government institutions
• The party-as-organisation - the party of activists, resources, and campaign specialists

Question 8

Describe cadre/elite parties

Answer 8

Small, limited membership base - political elites, wealthy or influential individuals. Focused on electoral competition and the maintenance of power, not mass mobilization. Early US Federalists and UK Conservative Party in the 19th century

Question 9

Describe mass parties

Answer 9

Broad membership base, open to the general public - expansion of franchise. Mobilizing large segments of the population based on class, religion, ideology. Labour Party in the UK, or the Socialist Parties in Europe.

Question 10

Describe catch-all parties (Kirchheimer, 1966)

Answer 10

Attract a wide range of voters from different social backgrounds - move away from class-based or ideologically rigid politics. Often moderate positions to appeal to a broader electorate - UK New Labour, German CDU, US Democrats

Question 11

Describe cartel parties (Katz and Mair, 1995)

Answer 11

Parties that collaborate to control access to political resources and power - blurring lines between government and opposition. Reliant on state resources for funding rather than grassroots membership. Grand coalitions. Italy up to 1990, Swedish Social Democratic Party

Question 12

Describe anti-cartel parties

Answer 12

Reaction to cartel parties, often framing themselves as outsiders. Populist, anti-establishment, critical of traditional political elites. Populist movements - Italy’s Five Star Movement, Spain’s Podemos

Question 13

Describe business-firm parties

Answer 13

Similar to private companies, often charismatic leader. Dubious internal democracy. Look to sell policies to voters that have been ‘left behind’. Often as populist parties. Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia, Republicans under Trump.

Question 14

What is a party system?

Answer 14

A party system is a set of parties that compete and cooperate with the aim of increasing their power in controlling government.

Question 15

What is a dominant party system?

Answer 15

Whereby one large party wins an absolute majority of votes and seats, no other parties approach 50%, there is no alternation in power, this results in a one party government. Mexico until 2000, Japan until 1993.

Question 16

What is a two party system?

Answer 16

Whereby two large balanced parties sharing together around 80% of votes and seats, alternation between parties, often one party government (UK, US)

Question 17

What is a multiparty system?

Answer 17

Whereby several or many parties exist, with none approaching 50% of votes and seats, parties of different sizes often alternating coalitions formed after elections. Most European countries.

Question 18

What is a bipolar system?

Answer 18

Whereby two large coalitions composed of several parties sharing together around 80% of all said seats, the coalitions are balanced and stable overtime. Portugal Italy until 2013, Germany since 1990.

Question 19

Explain the cleavage model of parties. How do ‘crosscutting’ cleavages complicate this usually simplistic model?

Answer 19

Lipset and Rokkan (1967) theorised that parties result from social cleavages in society. Social identities coalesce around a particular identity and cleavage and these develop into parties.
Crosscutting cleavages - those that cut across different societal groups on different issues - causes more fractionalisation of society and of party systems

Question 20

What political and economic revolutions have caused parties to form through the cleavage model?

Answer 20

Political revolutions:
- Church vs state
- Regional/local interests vs national interests
Economic Revolution
- Labour vs Capital
- Agriculture vs Industry

Question 21

Explain the ‘freezing hypothesis’ of Lipset and Rokkan (1967)

Answer 21

Lipset and Rokkan argued that the introduction of universal suffrage and PR after the First World War, the party constellations and social cleavages have remained remarkably stable, almost frozen.

Question 22

Explain the difference between homogenous and heterogenous constellations of social cleavages. How do heterogenous constellations complicate party systems?

Answer 22

Homogenous constellations are predominant, prevailing cleavages, left-right (e.g. Britain)
Heterogeneous constellations are various overlapping cleavages within society. These can mean that previously simplistic, class-based social cleavages are no longer translating into easy to understand class systems.

Question 23

How are cleavages in society that translate into parties now arguably only PARTIALLY FROZEN? What parties have emerged as a result?

Answer 23

Initial parties often remain and have not collapsed, yet a new cultural dimension that crosscuts these existing cleavages has now developed, causing a realignment of sorts at the extremes of politics (the populist right and new left/Green movement)

Question 24

Explain the spatial theory of politics in relation to party behaviour and character

Answer 24

This theory believes that parties are single-mindedly interested in attaining office and are eternally unified around this goal. Actors behave rational, self-interested and utility-maximising. Parties prioritise maximisation of votes, no policy orientation (moving towards median voter to maximise votes)

Question 25

Explain Downs’ Model of party systems (which is linked to the Spatial Theory)

Answer 25

Downs assumes that actors seek an ‘optimal location’ on the political spectrum from left-right. Voters are normally distributed along the left-right continuum, mainly populated in the centre. This means that parties will look to converge towards the centre and the median voter.

Question 26

What issues are there with the spatial model of party positioning?

Answer 26

Voters are often not normally distributed, and will thus vote for a party based on group affiliation. The crosscutting of social cleavages also complicate this, meaning that a median position is not always possible for parties. Party leaders also complicate this, as they are often closer to the median ACTIVIST, meaning they are not always palatable to voters.

Question 27

Explain the Directional Theory of party systems and its links to valency

Answer 27

Directional Theory believes that parties will try and adopt a stance on either side of an issue, attempting to form a bond in the public mind between the party and a positive image. They also sometimes adopt extreme positions to stand out or mobilise voters.

Question 28

Explain mobilisation theory and the idea of a running tally

Answer 28

Voters use party labels as a device to locate parties ideologically without great detail on its policy stances. Parties have their past performance summarised by voters in the form of a running tally, with this being negatively impacted when a party does something unpopular.

Question 29

Explain the incumbent hegemony model of party systems

Answer 29

The incumbency hegemony model believes that party platforms diverge because incumbents want voters to be able to distinguish their party from others.
This assumes that parties are composed of incumbents and would be incumbents, with challengers having no power to influence party platforms. Incumbents will want to retain office and maximise legislative performance.

Question 30

Explain overlapping generalisations models of party systems

Answer 30

Individual politicians will want to win office, and once in office will seek to implement policies quickly. This speed of implementation is shaped by the relatively short nature of terms, during which party members will keep office holders responsible to voters because they want to be reelected.

Question 31

Explain curvilinear disparity models of party systems

Answer 31

Curvilinear disparity models suggest that leaders preferences are more extreme than the electorate but less extreme than members. Platforms of parties will therefore diverge and activists will pressure leaders away from the median. Parties not responsible to median voters so much.

Question 32

Explain the theory of the minimal winning coalition

Answer 32

The minimal winning coalition revolves around each party being critical to maintaining a majority. Coalitions form that involve the fewest seats possible to make them easier to form and increase bargaining power. A ‘lighter’ coalition.

Question 33

Explain the theory of surplus coalitions

Answer 33

Surplus coalitions have broader ideological coverage, making them more prone to disagreements, however they have expanded numbers of seats, arguably making them stronger too.

Question 34

Explain the theory of the minimal CONNECTED winning coalition

Answer 34

Coalitions form between the fewest PARTIES possible, may perhaps be larger than minimal winning coalitions but have fewer ideological differences to hold them together.

Question 35

Explain policy theories of coalitions

Answer 35

Parties will enter winning coalitions when preferred policies will be adopted. The party closest to the median voter is the pivot in the legislature, keeping the coalition rooted to the opinion of the public. Distinct from office-seeking motivations for coalition.

Question 36

Explain the theory of ‘Very Strong Parties’ (Laver and Shepsle, 1996)

Answer 36

Very strong parties are those that have dominant control over government formation and policy decisions. They can force compliance of other parties, and will contain a formateur or a party as a whole that has veto power over decisions.

Question 37

What is a formateur?

Answer 37

Formateurs are politicians within a party who are entrusted with forming a governing coalition.

Question 38

What does Warwick argue to be the case about ideologically divided cabinets in a coalition?

Answer 38

Warwick argues that ideologically divided coalition cabinets are more prone to collapse than those with relative ideological convergence.