The Parties in Our Heads: Misperceptions about Party Composition and Their Consequences

2018 ◽  
Vol 80 (3) ◽  
pp. 964-981 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas J. Ahler ◽  
Gaurav Sood
Keyword(s):  
Party Composition

Political Parties and Social Policy Responses to Global Economic Crises: Constrained Partisanship in Mature Welfare States

2014 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 225-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
PETER STARKE ◽  
ALEXANDRA KAASCH ◽  
FRANCA VAN HOOREN
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Policy Change ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Economic Crises ◽  
Policy Responses ◽  
Party Composition ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Generous Welfare

AbstractBased on empirical findings from a comparative study on welfare state responses to the four major economic shocks (the 1970s oil shocks, the early 1990s recession, the 2008 financial crisis) in four OECD countries, this article demonstrates that, in contrast to conventional wisdom, policy responses to global economic crises vary significantly across countries. What explains the cross-national and within-case variation in responses to crises? We discuss several potential causes of this pattern and argue that political parties and the party composition of governments can play a key role in shaping crisis responses, albeit in ways that go beyond traditional partisan theory. We show that the partisan conflict and the impact of parties are conditioned by existing welfare state configurations. In less generous welfare states, the party composition of governments plays a decisive role in shaping the direction of social policy change. By contrast, in more generous welfare states, i.e., those with highly developed automatic stabilisers, the overall direction of policy change is regularly not subject to debate. Political conflict in these welfare states rather concerns the extent to which expansion or retrenchment is necessary. Therefore, a clear-cut partisan impact can often not be shown.

Duration of Party Control in Parliamentary and Presidential Governments

2006 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 352-374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ko Maeda ◽  
Misa Nishikawa
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Hazard Rate ◽  
Political Stability ◽  
Executive Branch ◽  
Policy Changes ◽  
Party Control ◽  
Incentive Structures ◽  
Parliamentary Systems ◽  
Party Composition ◽  
Presidential Systems

Most of the previous work on political stability uses cabinet duration or leadership duration to measure stability. This study, however, focuses on another area of stability, namely the party control of the executive branch. This approach not only allows us to compare political durability in presidential and parliamentary systems directly, but it also, we believe, better reflects policy changes that stem from government party composition. Our analysis of longitudinal data from 65 democracies reveals that presidential and parliamentary governments create different patterns of government survival. Ruling parties in parliamentary systems encounter a declining hazard rate over time, whereas those in presidentialism face an increasing hazard rate in their survival. We explain this difference by focusing on how parliamentary and presidential systems create different incentive structures for political parties.

scholarly journals Theoretical Approaches to Studying Political Actors’ Career Trajectories by the Example of the Fifth and Sixth State Duma Deputies from the «Just Russia» Party

2016 ◽  
pp. 58-69
Author(s):  
I A Zarankin
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Approaches To Studying ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Career Trajectories ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
Systemic Factors ◽  
Party Composition

Two approaches to studying political actors’ career trajectories are represented in this article. Using the career approach, the author analyzes career trajectories of the fifth and sixth State Duma deputies from the «Just Russia» party to understand transformation of the spoiler party composition since its foundation. It is revealed that there are no systemic factors of deputies’ recruiting, however there are several channels of recruiting and models of career trajectories after leaving the State Duma. It is demonstrated that these channels and models differentiate from each other in the fifth and sixth convocations.

scholarly journals The Supreme Federal Court as Queen of Chess: Partisan Fragmentation and Judicial Empowerment in Brazil

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (73) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leon Victor de Queiroz Barbosa ◽  
Ernani Carvalho
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
Federal Court ◽  
The Political ◽  
Independent Variables ◽  
Multinomial Models ◽  
Institutional Power ◽  
Synthetic Indicator ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
Party Composition ◽  
Federal Supreme

ABSTRACT Introduction: This article deals with the Supreme Federal Court’s empowerment trajectory, exploring exogenous variables in order to explain what made the Supreme Court so institutionally powerful, and how it happened. After the classic studies on the global expansion of the judicial power, that pointed to a myriad of causes as a result of the phenomenon, several recent researches have indicated the political-party fragmentation as the main cause of judicial empowerment. Seeking to corroborate these analyses, the present work analyzes the institutional empowerment of the Brazilian Judiciary from 1945 to 2015, testing the hypothesis the greater the party fragmentation, more institutional power the STF holds. Materials and Methods: As a dependent variable, a synthetic indicator was created to measure the institutional power of the Federal Supreme Court year by year. The independent variables measure the party composition of the Chamber of Deputies annually for the same period. In addition to these variables, other measures were imported from the V-Dem database. For this analysis, simple linear, generalized linear and multinomial models were used. Results: We identified significant impact of party fragmentation on institutional empowerment of the Supreme Court. In all tests, party fragmentation increased the chances of institutional empowerment of the Brazilian judiciary. Discussion: The exogenous reforms that generated this empowerment took place with the support of the Executive and the leniency of the Legislative, transforming the Brazilian Supreme Court into the Queen of the Chess.

Elections to regional parliaments of Russia on the example of the State Assembly (Il Tumen) of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (9) ◽  
pp. 42-48
Author(s):  
Yu. Petrov ◽  
◽  
N. Grigoriev ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Electoral System ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
The State ◽  
Legislative Process ◽  
Family Ties ◽  
Republican Government ◽  
Party Composition ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Mixed Electoral System ◽  
Local Levels

The article analyzes the tendencies of elections to the regional parliaments of Russia on the example of the State Assembly (Il Tumen) of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). Local parliaments are called upon to fulfill the function of separating the legislative and executive branches of government. However, in the modern Russian political system, the institution of parliamentarism is poorly developed at the federal and local levels. Regional parliaments have little influence on decisions on financial aspects, often continuing the all-Russian legislative process. The electoral process associated with elections to local legislative assemblies developed based on the logic of the development of the federal electoral system and the development of federal relations. In the 1990s during the period of decentralized federalism, various types of regional regimes with developed party systems took shape. In the 2000s during the period of centralization, the powers of the regions were reduced, which led to the abolition of direct elections of heads of subjects, and the reform of party and electoral systems. By now, a mixed electoral system has been formed according to party lists and the majority system. The party composition of regional parliaments also does not differ from the federal list of Duma factions. The Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) is a national republic, which influences the formation of the local regional elite. There are noticeable tendencies in the interdependence of representatives of the elite of the executive and legislative branches of government, as well as signs of community, family ties. According to the party lists of the party of power “United Russia”, the Head of the Republic and representatives of the upper echelons of the republican government are usually represented. In the elections of 2013 and 2018 four parties, representatives of the small parties “Civic Platform” and “For Women of Russia”, are steadily receiving deputy mandates to the local parliament

A Theory of Government Formation

1984 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 229-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
GREGORY M. LUEBBERT
Keyword(s):  
Social Structures ◽  
Government Formation ◽  
Party Composition

This article presents a theory of the size and party composition of cabinet governments in multiparty democracies. The object of the theory is to improve our understanding of the causal linkages that exist between the choices politicians perceive and the historically determined political and social structures that give meaning to these perceptions and lead politicians repeatedly to make essentially the same choices. A typology of multiparty democracies is employed to capture the decisive political and social structures that give meaning to these perceptions. The structural attributes, in conjunction with a constellation of bargaining relationships, lead to predictable government formation outcomes.

scholarly journals This time was different: the budgetary responses to the pandemic-induced crisis in Estonia

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 847-854 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ringa Raudla ◽  
James W. Douglas
Keyword(s):  
Interesting Case ◽  
Economic Factors ◽  
Fiscal Consolidation ◽  
Political Factors ◽  
Fiscal Stimulus ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Party Composition ◽  
The Government ◽  
Fiscal Conservatism

PurposeSince regaining its independence, the Estonian government has followed policies of fiscal consolidation when responding to economic crises. Its response to the COVID-19-crisis has been quite different – it has authorized additional expenditures, cut taxes and incurred considerable debt. This paper gives an overview of the budgetary measures adopted and explores the question: why was it different this time?Design/methodology/approachThe authors draw upon policy documents to zoom in on the main political, institutional and economic factors that help to explain Estonia's departure from extreme fiscal conservatism in the midst of the global pandemic.FindingsThe authors found the key political factors to be the party composition of the government, policy diffusion and policy learning. Key economic factors included Estonia's very low level of debt prior to the crisis and credit market advantages gained from Eurozone membership.Originality/valueEstonia presents an interesting case because in all previous crises it responded with fiscal consolidation, whereas it is now responding with extensive fiscal stimulus.

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