Party Platforms with Endogenous Party Membership

This paper proposes and analyzes a model of how the behaviorof voters and that of potential party activists togetherdetermine party membership and the ideological characteristicsof party platforms. Membership decisions are based onexpressive motivations, whereas platforms are chosenstrategically. Part of the ideological spectrum may remainoutside both parties because of alienation or indifference.     

Party Sub-Brands and American Party Factions

Scholars and pundits have long noted the dominance of the American two-party system, but we know relatively little about new, endogenous institutions that have emerged within the two major parties. I argue that ideological factions provide party sub-brands, which allow legislators to more precisely define their partisan type and capture faction-specific resources. To support this claim, I analyze new data on nine ideological factions in the House of Representatives (1995–2018). I find that (1) faction voting is distinct, suggesting a product ripe for party sub-branding, and (2) joining a faction changes the ideological composition of a candidate's donor base—conditional on the strength of the faction's institutions. Party sub-branding is effective only when factions possess organizational features that induce coordinated and disciplined position taking (e.g., whips, PACs, membership restrictions). These results suggest that, even within highly polarized parties, American political ideology is more than a dichotomous choice, and factions target niche markets of political donors as a means of blunting financial instruments of party power.     

People, Place and Party: Describing Party Activism

The aim of this article is to present a structure for the historical study of party activism. Based on research carried out on the activities of the Social Democratic Federation (SDF) between 1884 and 1911, the article puts forward the case that current understandings of that organisation should be reassessed to include the notion of the 'political journeys' of the activists. Instead of focusing exclusively on ideology, the article suggests that other poles or features such as locality and collective biography should be used. If the organisation is viewed from a wider perspective and with a longer exposure time, then, this article argues, a clearer picture presents itself.     

From a Contingent Party System to Party System Convergence? Mapping Party System Change in Postwar Finland

The current imperative in journal articles of presenting new data and new 'theory' has largely been at the expense of new interpretations and 'big picture' analyses. This article proceeds from the failure of the comparative politics literature, from Sartori to Evans and Green-Pedersen, to grasp the essential dynamics of the Cold War Finnish party system and the curious absence of Finnish studies of the significant legislative party system change occurring thereafter. Following a critique of Green-Pedersen's notion of 'party system implosion' as applied to Finland, the article depicts a shift from the contingent party system of the Cold War era, when exogenous veto players formed institutional barriers to office-seeking parties, to the present convergent party system where most, if not all parties compete for, and converge on, the centre ground and cooperate interchangeably in governing coalitions without significant deviations in the main lines of public policy.     

Party as linkage

Nomination: Costs and benefits of party membership reconsidered by Wolfgang C. Müller, p.169
Reflections: Party as linkage by Richard S. Katz, p171     

欧洲议会党团:一种特殊的政党组织

新世纪以来,为研究“共产党的执政规律”,有关政党问题的论著相继问世,其中不少论著涉及西欧政党问题。但能够既系统又简要且具学术性地反映出政党发源地——西欧国家冷战后政党基本状况的论著并不多见。本组笔谈力图达到这个目的。     

王羲之开Party

日前参加朋友的一个生日Party,席间有朋友问我:古人是如何开Party的?我说:中国古人的Party,虽受当时条件的限制显得原始古朴,但大多比现代人的Party更有文化内涵,尤其是古代文人的Party,相当于现在作家、书画家的各类"笔会".其中最风光的一次Party,无疑是由东晋大书法家王羲之"做东",在会稽山阴兰亭举行的"曲水流觞"大Party,并为后世留下著名的<兰亭集序>.     

Party as Linkage

Abstract Until recent years, two major trends in European politics-the growth of State services and increased political participation-have complemented the central role of parties. This paper argues that this complementarity may have started to come unstuck, and questions the future viability of the mass party as a result of a shift in the balance of perceived advantages of the mass party by both leaders and members. The paper discusses several potential costs and benefits of party membership for leaders and members. Using membership statistics and survey data the reasonableness of these arguments is explored.     

Equilibrium Party Government

In this article, I present an equilibrium model of party government within a two-party legislature. The theory is predicated upon members of the majority party having potentially conflicting individual and collective interests. In response to this potential conflict, the members of the majority party endogenously choose a degree of control to grant to their leadership. The equilibrium level of party strength is decreasing in the size of the majority party and increasing in the strength of opposition among members of the minority party. The theory implies that the average performance of W-Nominate estimates of majority party members' ideal points will be a decreasing function of the size of the majority party while the performance of these estimates for members of the minority party will not be affected by the size of the majority party. Using data from the U.S. House and Senate between 1866 and 2004, the theory's predictions are largely consistent with roll-call voting in both chambers.     

The Parliamentary Party

The Conservative parliamentary party will fulfill three important functions for any incoming Conservative government: it will be the focus of attention for the national media; it will be the bulk vote that will deliver its legislative programme; it will form the talent pool from which members of any incoming government will be recruited. A majority Conservative government could see a majority of its MPs newly elected, with more Conservative women and ethnic minority MPs than ever before (although there will be little change in the socio-economic background of their MPs). These new MPs will present problems in terms of party management, although they will be less likely to rebel than longer-serving MPs. There are also relatively few signs of discontent among incumbent Conservative MPs (the article identifies the most rebellious Conservative MPs). Any new Conservative government will also have to deal with a reformed House of Lords, in which it will no longer have a majority.     

区别革命党与执政党的四个维度

革命党与执政党到底有什么区别?这是我们正确认识革命党与执政党问题,以执政党思维来加强党的执政能力建设的逻辑起点。区别革命党与执政党的四个维度是:党政关系的维度、党法关系的维度、党群关系的维度和党内关系的维度。从党政关系的维度看,革命党与执政党的区别在于与政权的关系不同、与政治体制的关系不同、与政府的关系不同、党的政治任务的不同、作用于政权和政治体制的方式不同。从党法关系的维度看,区别在于法律地位不同、对法统的态度和行为不同、党的政策与国家法律的关系不同、对法的重视程度不同。从党群关系的维度看,区别在于群众概念的外延不同、脱离群众的危险程度不同、分析群众的方法论不同、判断群众政治上先进落后的标准不同。从党内关系的维度看,区别在于对党员和干部的要求不同、党内的领导方式不同、党的建设方式的不同、党的活动方式不同。     

The Feminisation of the Conservative Parliamentary Party: Party Members' Attitudes

Under David Cameron's leadership reforms have been made to the Conservative party's parliamentary selection procedures and distinct women's policy initiatives have been developed. This article, based on focus group data with party members, explores attitudes towards measures designed to recruit more women Conservative MPs. Broadly, we find that, despite widespread support for the principle of greater social diversity among PPCs, members are uncomfortable with the specific measures that have been introduced. This is largely on the grounds that anything approaching 'positive discrimination' should be eschewed in favour of the 'meritocratic' selection of candidates. Further, the members tend to resent central party 'interference' in what has traditionally been the domain of local Constituency Associations.     

中国共产党党校工作条例

第一章总则 第一条为适应中国特色社会主义事业发展的要求,进一步完善中国共产党党校教育体系,推进党校工作的科学化、规范化、制度化,根据<中国共产党章程>、<中华人民共和国公务员法>和有关法律法规,结合党校工作实际,制定本条例.     

延安时期提高党员党性修养的实践路径

延安时期是中国共产党历史上的特殊时期,党在这一时期进行了局部执政的实践,党建工作获得丰硕成果,其中提高党员党性修养效果显著。主要措施有:加强学习,通过多种载体、多种形式和各种严格的规定,以增强党员的理论修养;结合实践,通过民主生活会、自我反省、群众监督,以提高党员的思想道德修养;完善制度,通过健全民主集中制、完善规章制度和监督体系,以提升党员的组织纪律修养。党员党性修养的提高,保障了党员队伍的先进性和纯洁性,为中国革命的胜利打下了坚实的基础。     

Proffering Pork: How Party Leaders Build Party Reputations in Brazil

Despite its highly candidate-centered electoral law, recent studies have shown that Brazilian party leaders are more powerful, and Brazilian parties are more unified, than alleged by long-dominant scholarship. Examining post-War and contemporary democracy in Brazil, governed by the same federal legislative electoral law, this article provides a controlled test of the role of leadership and electoral law in driving party unity. The combination of leadership intervention to enforce unity, increased unity, and partisan tides in contemporary Brazil, in contrast to an absence of leadership intervention, lower unity, and no partisan tides in the post-War, provides strong support for the role of the leadership in generating unity, as emphasized in the collective action theory of party organization. The findings also suggest that a general theory of variation in party unity requires examining factors that lead to variation in party leaders' incentives to enforce unity, in addition to the current emphasis on backbenchers' incentives to defy the leadership.     

Inside the Cartel Party: Party Organisation in Government and Opposition

This article assesses the internal dynamics of the cartel party model. It argues that a party's endeavour to increase its societal reach by opening membership boundaries while keeping candidate selection local (two tendencies ascribed to this model), and the general need to maintain party unity, are difficult to reconcile. Therefore a fully fledged cartel party is organisationally vulnerable, which reinforces its resort to selective benefits (i.e. political appointments, patronage) whenever in government to satisfy organisational demands, a trigger intensifying party–state relations which is usually overlooked. Further, the dominant view of the ascendancy of parties' 'public face' needs to be qualified: the Irish Fianna Fáil, with its permeable boundaries and local candidate selection, reflects the cartel party model without a cartel at the party system level. Majoritarian dynamics have forced Fianna Fáil repeatedly into opposition which reveals the following: Fianna Fáil as a cartel party can afford to neglect its infrastructure on the ground as long as it is controlling government resources. In opposition its leadership initiates reforms to reinvigorate the party's infrastructure since it is pressed to generate organisational support through other means than distributing benefits.     

中国共产党与社会民主党建党思想的区别

中国共产党第十六次全国代表大会在坚持马克思主义建党思想的基础上,与时俱进,开拓创新,对党的理论纲领、入党条件、组织制度和发展战略等进行了调整。有人认为,中国共产党正在社会民主党化。因此,从理论上认清中国共产党和社会民主党的根本区别是十分必要的。其实,二者在党的性质,指导思想,奋斗目标,组织原则和入党条件等方面存在着根本区别。