Promising Parties: Can Parties in Government still Deliver?

Abstract

The ability of political parties in advanced industrial democracies to maintain the traditional linkage between voters and their governments by making and attempting to fulfill policy promises is potentially being challenged by emerging social, political, and economic forces of the 21st century. Parties may become less meaningful to the electorate as they deal with the cross-pressures created by the forces of Europeanization, globalization, localism, and the increasing independence of central banks. These factors have the potential to make parties in government, at the national-level, marginally less able to fulfill the promises they make to voters. The review of literature presented here regarding these challenges indicates that although the risks to parties are very real, the effects of these emerging forces have yet to substantially diminish the primary roles and functioning of national parties in government. Those most at risk of being affected in the future are parties who rely strongly on economic appeals and promises.

Newness as a winning formula for new political parties

“…For one, the article may seem to suggest that the voters do not pay much attention to programmatic profiles of political parties and instead focus on the personal qualities of aspirant leaders. However, the feasible policy space in modern European democracies has been argued to be constricted due to the pressures of globalization and Europeanization (see Blyth and Katz, 2005: 34, 41-4;Gray, 2008). Thus it may be all too rational for voters to focus on the personal appeal, integrity or technocratic ability of party leaders.…”

MEPs Towards Urban Policy – in Search of Conditions for their Activity on the Forum of the European Parliament

“…It should be emphasised that the EPPGs represent the EuPPs at the EP forum (Ladrech, 1996;Bardi et al, 2010;Bartolini, 2012;Bardi et al, 2014;Cicchi, 2016). For this reason, the analysis of the activity of the MEPs who belong to individual EPPGs must take into account, at least to a limited extent, the actions taken against 'mother-parties', i.e., EuPPs (Hix, Lord, 1997;Hix, Noury, Roland, 2007;Gray, 2008;Rodriguez-Aguilera de Prat, 2009;Priestly, 2011;Lindberg, Rasmussen, Warntjen, 2013).…”