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Parties and party systems

Parties and party systems. Relationships to political cleavages. Parties may reflect (and sometimes reinforce, or even create) societal divisions OR Parties may try to bridge (and often blur) cleavages, societal divisions. Ways of classifying parties:.

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Parties and party systems

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  1. Parties and party systems

  2. Relationships to political cleavages • Parties may reflect (and sometimes reinforce, or even create) societal divisions OR • Parties may try to bridge (and often blur) cleavages, societal divisions

  3. Ways of classifying parties: According to their relationship to patterns of cleavage: • Aggregative or brokerage parties – try to bridge societal cleavages • Example: Canadian or US parties • Cleavage-based parties: parties represent or organize a particular cleavage or group in society – Examples: European parties -- classified according to the ‘ideological families’ they (once) represent(-ed) -- although not necessarily carriers of distinct ideologies.

  4. Ideological families Parties often arrayed from left to right on social and economic issues • Left • Initially opposed church involvement, favoured secular state • Early and mid 20th c: favoured re-distribution of wealth, greater equality, greater state involvement in the economy • Late 20th c: favour a fairer distribution of wealth and opportunity; less certain about state intervention

  5. Ideological families – con’t Right: • Initially favoured church, monarchy, order, authority, a stratified society • Today • allocation via the market • Oppose redistribution, • Prefer to reduce state involvement in the economy

  6. Political cleavages today Divisions between left and right have become blurred; new parties have emerged • Greens and other left-libertarian parties demanding post-material values, democratization, improved quality of life • New Right: ambiguous – typically anti-establishment, populist, anti-immigrant, anti-refugee, anti-European Union

  7. Types of parties • Elite or caucus: party is run by a small group – the caucus – without extensive membership or membership involvement • Mass: party has a mass membership, which it attempts to involve, educate and shape • Catch-all: has a membership but they are rarely involved: party attempts to broaden out, represent a broad swath of society – like the aggregative or brokerage type, but with a different heritage

  8. Examples

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