Patterns of Party Integration, Influence and Autonomy in Seven Federations

Abstract

In this article, I develop three measures of party organization in multi-level systems: vertical integration, influence and autonomy. I assess these in 27 parties in Canada, Australia, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the United States and Spain and investigate how parties respond to the incentives and opportunities created by their institutional environment. Clear patterns emerge between the form of federal state design and the predominant form of party organization: in decentralized federations with low coordination requirements between federal and state-level governments, a tendency can be found towards highly autonomous state parties. Where resources are centralized and intergovernmental coordination requirements are high, integrated parties with low autonomy can be found. However, neither aspect of institutional design has a significant relationship with `upward' influence of state-level parties in the governance structure of federal parties.

Are the Europarties Real Political Parties? National Parties’ Involvement in Multi-level Structures of European Political Parties

“…Vertical integration is an important measure in a multi-level party, but it does not determine the direction of control in the party organization, in the sense that no level needs to be subordinated to another. Successive conceptions are: the influence that the regional structures exert on the central party and the degree of autonomy of the regional structures within the integrated party (Thorlakson, 2009). Various authors have produced their own variables to measure influence and autonomy.…”

“…These studies are devoted to the analysis of relations between the national and subnational (regional) party structures. Scholars developed even a special framework for analysis (Thorlakson, 2009(Thorlakson, , 2013Fabre, 2011;Detterbeck, 2012). In order to research Europarties it is important to answer the question as to whether it is adequate to use this framework to investigate the rela-tion between the national and European party structures.…”

“…There is a general consensus in the subject literature on the meaning of the concept of vertical integration in political parties, but some difficulties arise when we try to operationalize the concept. Vertical integration refers to the extent and strength of linkages between a regional and central party structure (Thorlakson, 2009). The existence of the linkages means that the party is vertically integrated and the levels are interdependent.…”

“…Vertical integration allows one to determine links between the different levels of the structure, for example: a common party membership, shared finances and a common governance structure (Thorlakson, 2009), therefore this can be used to test the structures of Europarties in terms of their relationship with the national parties which are their members. Some problems may occur when trying to use concepts of autonomy and influence.…”

“…11 need noting: Thorlakson (2009Thorlakson ( , 2013, Fabre (2008Fabre ( , 2011, Hough and Jaffrey (2006), van Biezen and Hopkin (2006), van Houten (2009), Detterbeck (2012. Less attention has been paid to the relations between the European and national as well as the European and regional party structures.…”