changing party systems

Question 1

why was party fragmentation higher in the countries that joined the EU

Answer 1

• more liberal representative countries influenced by the west?
• less repressive gov

Question 2

why do eastern EU parties have less defined policy profiles

Answer 2

-couldn’t take differing economic position because of economic liberation
- no party could drift too much one way in fear of being labelled extremist so every party turned out centrist

Question 3

what were parties in the east more concerned about

Answer 3

• nationalism/nation
• religions (many different ones clashing)
• anti authoritarian practice

Question 4

how did the political compass differ in the east comapred to west

Answer 4

• economic right was more likely to be social left, this is because of the communist legacy

Question 5

why was there a high party turnover in the east

Answer 5

• fragile organisation, weak inherent party loyalty, fuzzy class identities

Question 6

what are voters in the east particularly sensitive to

Answer 6

economic results

Question 7

why does a lack of clarity in profile of a party advantage radical parties

Answer 7

they are the inly ones with clear cut identities, transparent and predictable

Question 8

what strongly links voter behaviour

Answer 8

demographic such as religion, urban-rural divide, class, ethnicity

Question 9

what are caucus parties

Answer 9

elite parties when few people had the right to vote in the 18th-19th century

Question 10

what are mass parties

Answer 10

• parties with broadened electoral appeal
• large membership with bureaucratic hierarchal organisation

Question 11

what are catch all parties

Answer 11

• try to appeal to a wide variety of social groups and interests
• common in south america

Question 12

what are cartel parties

Answer 12

• mass parties that collaborate with each other for state resources

Question 13

what are the main party families and the social clevages they are built around

Answer 13

• socialist parties - SDP, labour, new left
• Christian democratic parties - CDU/CSU, OVP
• agrarian parties - farmer peasant or centre parties, powerful interest groups
• liberal parties - radical progressive, liberation/freedom parties
• conservative parties
• nationalist/ populist
• green parties
• regional or minority ethnic parties

Question 14

what is the number of parties usually numbered around

Answer 14

the number of social cleavages within the country+1