Comparative final social cleavages/party systems

Nonpartisan system

a system with no official political parties

Single-party system

an authoritarian system in which parties besides the single dominant party are banned or disallowed

One-party dominant system

a party system in which a single party rules for long periods of time and the opposition parties are not likely to gain the support needed to successfully challenge the dominant party for control of the government

Two-party system

An electoral system with two dominant parties that compete in national elections.

Multiparty system

A system in which three or more political parties have the capacity to gain control of government separately or in coalition.

Effective number of parties

a measure designed to capture the number of meaningful parties in a party system that weights the number of parties represented by their size

Effective number of electoral parties

a measure of the number of parties that win votes

Effective number of legislative parties

a measure of the number of parties that win seats

Political parties

organized groups that attempt to influence the government by electing their members to important government offices

Party identification

a citizen's self-proclaimed preference for one party or the other

Whip

a senator or representative who helps the party leader stay informed about what party members are thinking

Pre-industrial cleavages

- urban-rural cleavage
- confessional cleavage
- secular-clerical cleavage

Industrial/post industrial cleavages

- class cleavage
- post-material cleavage
- ethnic and linguistic cleavages

Cross-cutting cleavages

Divisions within society that cut across demographic categories to produce groups that are more heterogeneous or different.

Cleavages

factors that separate groups

Reinforcing cleavages

Divisions within society that reinforce one another, making groups more homogeneous or similar.

Mechanical effect of electoral laws

refers to the way votes are translated into seats. When electoral systems are disproportional, the mechanical effect punishes small parties and rewards large parties

Strategic effect of electoral laws

refers to how the way in which votes are translated into seats influences the "strategic" behavior of voters and political elites

Strategic entry

refers to the decision by political elites about whether to enter the political scene under the label of their most preferred party or under the label of their most preferred party that has a realistic chance of winning

Duverger's Law

a regularity that only two parties tend to compete for control of the government in countries that have single-member, plurality electoral systems

Duverger's hypothesis

states that proportional representation electoral rules favor multiparty systems