Political Parties

What is a political party?

A group of officials or would-be officials who are linked with a sizable group of citizens into an organization (objective: to ensure that its officials attain/maintain power)

What is a political party different from?

An interest group and a social movement

5 key functions of political parties?

1. Win electoral office. 2. Recruit/train officials. 3. Organize parliament. 4. Coordinate/preference aggregation. 5. Identity formation/mobilization.​

3 faces of party organization?

1. Party in public office. 2. Party on the ground. 3. Party central office.

Iron law of oligarchy?

Organization/centralization → oligarchy; party leaders moderate policy; vote-seeking > policy-seeking.

4 main sources of party finance?

1. Membership fees. 2. Public funding (cartel parties). 3. Donations. 4. Commercial activity.

What defines a party system?

Regular/recurring interactions between component parties: number/size + nature of interaction.

Effective Number of Parties (ENP)?

Measures real competition (not just raw party count); e.g., Election 1 (60/25/10/5) vs Election 2 (40/30/30)

Party policy space?

Map of politics by policy positions (1D model); measured by expert surveys (CHES data).​

Factors shaping parties?

Electoral systems, parliamentary vs presidential, candidate selection norms.