Changing Models of Party Organization and Party Democracy

Abstract

Many recent discussions of the decline of party are predicated on the assumption that the Duverger/socialist mass-party model is the only model for parties. We contend that this assumption is misconceived, that the mass-party model is only one, temporally limited and contingent model, and that it is necessary to differentiate notions of adaptation and change from notions of decline or failure. Following an analysis of how various models of party can be located in terms of the relationship between civil society and the state, we contend that the recent period has witnessed the emergence of a new model of party, the cartel party, in which colluding parties become agents of the state and employ the resources of the state (the party state) to ensure their own collective survival. Finally, we suggest that the recent challenge to party is in fact a challenge to the cartel that the established parties have created for themselves.

Democratizing Candidate Selection

“…The extent to which parties respond to external pressures or to constitutional change is dependent on internal party organisation and dynamics (Katz & Mair, 1995). When permissive conditions are created at structural level to advance gender representation (i.e.…”

Унутарпартијска Демократија У Српској

“…6 Владимир Гоати објашњава да се некада јасно могло да препозна према називима организационих јединица у партијама којој врсти партија припадају, али да се то почело да мијења од Другог свјетског рата (Гоати, 2008: 95-96).…”

Intraparty and Interparty Politics: Factions, Fractions, Parties, and Coalitions in Uruguay, 1985-1999

“…On the contrary, using Kirchheimer categories (1966), they have been defined as catch-all parties (Bottinelli 1993, Gillespie 1991, GonzaJez 1991. And lately, at least the traditional parties, it is possible to see some characteristics of cartel parties such as state subventions and stratarchy (Katz y Mair 1995 As a matter of fact, it is also difficult to define the Uruguayan party system in terms of institutionalization. If we define institutionalization, as Mainwaring (1999), as a process by which rules and procedures become widely known, accepted, and complied with, it then becomes crucial where we look for these attributes.…”