POLS1002 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Single-Issue Politics, Collective Action, Party System
23 May 2018
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L8 POLITICAL PARTIES, ELECTORAL COMPETITION AND PARTY SYSTEMS
IV: Election
Parties and Agendas
Keys to Success: Beginnings and Endings: Bringing the paper together
Reading: C chs: 9, 10 & 12
Guiding Questions:
1. What is a party (and how do we know)?
2. How can parties facilitate collective decision-making?
3. What is the relationship between the numbers of parties and the numbers of issues?
POLITICAL PARTIES
E.E. “hattsheider rote that deora is uthikale ithout politial parties.
Political Parties
- A political parties is an organization of individuals formed to compete for political power and
provide public goods in the form of public policy.
o Organisation
o Compete for political power
o Provide public goods in the form of public policy
o Efficient way to organise the provision of public goods. Collective action.
o In Australian pre-federation. NSW and VIC had alliances and coalitions.
o Left ad Right as’t fored util after .
Where do political parties come from?
- Formation of Political Parties:
o Endogenous Parties (inside): Within the framework of traditional elections and representative
assembles as collective candidacies and legislative coalitions.
▪ Individual candidates founds incentives to form closed lists of candidates to be voted for i lo
by the citizens. Forming or joining a coordinated candidacy may increase the prospects of
winning additional votes and the likelihood of winning a seat. Early political parties adopted the
form of electoral committees and parliamentary groups.
▪ Form in order to win elections. Similar points of view
▪ When parties first formed.
o Exogenous Parties (outside): new political parties have been formed in more recent times. Based on
the support of previously existing interest groups.
▪ Policy focus. Aim to change a policy. E.g. Green Party → single issue party
▪ Interest is not initially to get in govt.
▪ Can form legislature especially when parties split up e.g. Canada progressive conservative in
1980s and 1990s.
What do the parties do?
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- Function of Parties:
o Proposing innovative policy on some selected collective issues;
o Developing collective action by means of leadership and other organizational incentives; and
o Competing in elections and exerting influence and power in assemblies and govts.
o Policy Making
▪ Articulate policy preferences of its voters. Keep those preferences focused.
▪ New legislation e.g. cuts to the Budget.
o Leadership Selection
▪ Needs to deliver a coherent message
▪ Providing mechanism and opportunities for the membership to contest the leadership of the
party. Wether through riots, contingencies, national organisations, etc.
▪ Set out criteria for leadership
▪ Setting our institutions and mechanism for being selected/elected
▪ Ensure for efficient turn over of leadership
▪ Legitimacy and renewal within their organisation
o Govt. Formation
▪ Supply the individual that form govt.
Types of Parties
- A political party is an organization, that is, a group of individuals with a common purpose in its external
activity of competing for votes, political power, and policy making.
- A political party, can also be conceived as an institution that enforces rules for its internal process of
decision making.
Party Members
- Leaders/professional politicians
o Motivated by votes, get paid for the job, perks of office e.g. fame, power, status
▪ When it dominated by leaders it is known political oligarchy (Robert Michels)
o Followers/activities
▪ Motivated by policy/ideology and the outcomes that can be made by policy. Highly motivated.
E.g. environment, reduction of taxes
o Challenge is striking balance between both. Leaders need the number of the followers. However,
followers need leaders and may need to compromise on policy as it may not be palatable
o Function by size of the party and the party rules
o Contrast between Australian and Canadian PM. Australian PM can be sacked by their party.
Canadian can only be sacked by the entire party membership rather than leadership, only during a
leadership review.
- Party Types
o Cadre parties (Duverger)
▪ Implying low membership and restrictive internal rules. May be dominated internally by party
leaders, or professional politicians. Elitist. First formation parties e.g. Aristocrats coming together.
▪ Addresses the problem of internal co-ordination. WHIPS in UK. Conform parliamentary coalition.
Votes for same outcome. Want to control govt. E.g. small party that needs mass support. Makes
everyone vote for the same thing in parliament.
▪ Cadre: 19th Century Britain. Elite.
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find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
L8 political parties, electoral competition and party systems. Keys to success: beginnings and endings: bringing the paper together. Hatts(cid:272)h(cid:374)eider (cid:894)(cid:1005)(cid:1013)(cid:1008)(cid:1006)(cid:895) (cid:449)rote that de(cid:373)o(cid:272)ra(cid:272)(cid:455) is (cid:862)u(cid:374)thi(cid:374)ka(cid:271)le(cid:863) (cid:449)ithout politi(cid:272)al parties. Nsw and vic had alliances and coalitions: left a(cid:374)d right (cid:449)as(cid:374)"t for(cid:373)ed u(cid:374)til after (cid:1005)(cid:1012)(cid:1009)(cid:1004). Formation of political parties: endogenous parties (inside): within the framework of traditional elections and representative assembles as collective candidacies and legislative coalitions. Individual candidates founds incentives to form closed lists of candidates to be voted for (cid:862)i(cid:374) (cid:271)lo(cid:272)(cid:863) by the citizens. Forming or joining a coordinated candidacy may increase the prospects of winning additional votes and the likelihood of winning a seat. Early political parties adopted the form of electoral committees and parliamentary groups: form in order to win elections. Similar points of view: when parties first formed, exogenous parties (outside): new political parties have been formed in more recent times. Based on the support of previously existing interest groups: policy focus.
