This article introduces the first findings of the Political Party Database Project, a major surve... more This article introduces the first findings of the Political Party Database Project, a major survey of party organizations in parliamentary and semi-presidential democracies. The project's first round of data covers 122 parties in 19 countries. In this article, we describe the scope of the database, then investigate what it tells us about contemporary party organization in these countries, focusing on parties' resources, structures and internal decision-making. We examine organizational patterns by country and party family, and where possible we make temporal comparisons with older data sets. Our analyses suggest a remarkable coexistence of uniformity and diversity. In terms of the major organizational resources on which parties can draw, such as members, staff and finance, the new evidence largely confirms the continuation of trends identified in previous research: that is, declining membership, but enhanced financial resources and more paid staff. We also find remarkable uniformity regarding the core architecture of party organizations. At the same time, however, we find substantial variation between countries and party families in terms of their internal processes, with particular regard to how internally democratic they are, and the forms that this democratization takes.
... Later still, a further mooted compromise, which some of the bourgeois parties could accept, w... more ... Later still, a further mooted compromise, which some of the bourgeois parties could accept, was simply a higher target for fiscal surpluses during ... 31 Nicholas Aylott, 'Between Europe and Unity: The Case of the Swedish Social Democrats', West European Politics, 20: 2 (1997), pp ...
Page 1. Nicholas Aylott Paradoxes and Opportunism: The Danish ... See Erik Damgaard, 'De... more Page 1. Nicholas Aylott Paradoxes and Opportunism: The Danish ... See Erik Damgaard, 'Denmark Experiments in Parliamentary Government', in Erik Damgaard (ed.), Parliamentary Chongc in the Nordic Counfries, Oslo, Scandinavian University Press, 1992. Page 5. ...
... competitive, they do not back this claim with data' (p. 134). Similarly, the results of ... more ... competitive, they do not back this claim with data' (p. 134). Similarly, the results of empirical studies collated by the authors in Canada, the UK, Ireland and the USA suggest that territorial decentralisation produces low competition. ...
ABSTRACT This article examines the institutional arrangements between Social Democratic parties... more ABSTRACT This article examines the institutional arrangements between Social Democratic parties and trade unions in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. First, the authors show how these relations have weakened at a varying pace. Party–union ties are now quite distant in Denmark, but remain relatively close in Norway and, especially, Sweden. Second, the authors explore this variation using a simple model of political exchange. The finding is that the intensity of the relationship is correlated with the resources that each side can derive from the other, which in turn reflects national differences. Yet it is also clear that the degree of change is related to the formative phase of the institutional arrangement itself: the weaker the ties were from the beginning, the more easily they unravel in response to environmental changes.
... Centre; these coalitions also had a majority parliamentary base. In the remaining 14, the Soc... more ... Centre; these coalitions also had a majority parliamentary base. In the remaining 14, the Social Democrats have run single-party minority governments. The main reason for the party's remarkable control of Swedish government is, of course, its popu-larity. ...
This article introduces the first findings of the Political Party Database Project, a major surve... more This article introduces the first findings of the Political Party Database Project, a major survey of party organizations in parliamentary and semi-presidential democracies. The project's first round of data covers 122 parties in 19 countries. In this article, we describe the scope of the database, then investigate what it tells us about contemporary party organization in these countries, focusing on parties' resources, structures and internal decision-making. We examine organizational patterns by country and party family, and where possible we make temporal comparisons with older data sets. Our analyses suggest a remarkable coexistence of uniformity and diversity. In terms of the major organizational resources on which parties can draw, such as members, staff and finance, the new evidence largely confirms the continuation of trends identified in previous research: that is, declining membership, but enhanced financial resources and more paid staff. We also find remarkable uniformity regarding the core architecture of party organizations. At the same time, however, we find substantial variation between countries and party families in terms of their internal processes, with particular regard to how internally democratic they are, and the forms that this democratization takes.
... Later still, a further mooted compromise, which some of the bourgeois parties could accept, w... more ... Later still, a further mooted compromise, which some of the bourgeois parties could accept, was simply a higher target for fiscal surpluses during ... 31 Nicholas Aylott, 'Between Europe and Unity: The Case of the Swedish Social Democrats', West European Politics, 20: 2 (1997), pp ...
Page 1. Nicholas Aylott Paradoxes and Opportunism: The Danish ... See Erik Damgaard, 'De... more Page 1. Nicholas Aylott Paradoxes and Opportunism: The Danish ... See Erik Damgaard, 'Denmark Experiments in Parliamentary Government', in Erik Damgaard (ed.), Parliamentary Chongc in the Nordic Counfries, Oslo, Scandinavian University Press, 1992. Page 5. ...
... competitive, they do not back this claim with data' (p. 134). Similarly, the results of ... more ... competitive, they do not back this claim with data' (p. 134). Similarly, the results of empirical studies collated by the authors in Canada, the UK, Ireland and the USA suggest that territorial decentralisation produces low competition. ...
ABSTRACT This article examines the institutional arrangements between Social Democratic parties... more ABSTRACT This article examines the institutional arrangements between Social Democratic parties and trade unions in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. First, the authors show how these relations have weakened at a varying pace. Party–union ties are now quite distant in Denmark, but remain relatively close in Norway and, especially, Sweden. Second, the authors explore this variation using a simple model of political exchange. The finding is that the intensity of the relationship is correlated with the resources that each side can derive from the other, which in turn reflects national differences. Yet it is also clear that the degree of change is related to the formative phase of the institutional arrangement itself: the weaker the ties were from the beginning, the more easily they unravel in response to environmental changes.
... Centre; these coalitions also had a majority parliamentary base. In the remaining 14, the Soc... more ... Centre; these coalitions also had a majority parliamentary base. In the remaining 14, the Social Democrats have run single-party minority governments. The main reason for the party's remarkable control of Swedish government is, of course, its popu-larity. ...
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