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.
Amidst a now extensive literature on the imputed 'decline of party' in Western democrac... more Amidst a now extensive literature on the imputed 'decline of party' in Western democracies, particular emphasis has been placed on the theme of orga-nisational decline, and on the supposed erosion of the organisational links which tie parties to electors. Much of this emphasis, inevitably, ...
This paper examines voter preferences when voters are allowed to rank order large numbers of cand... more This paper examines voter preferences when voters are allowed to rank order large numbers of candidates both within and between different parties (STV-PR). How voters complete such a ballot has consequences both for models of voting behaviour and also for patterns of party competition. More concretely, although such a system should promote a great deal of candidate centered voting behaviour, this does not, in fact, seem to occur for the case we examine. While Irish voters do seem to exhibit multiple party loyalties they are, nevertheless, party and not candidate specific loyalties. The consequences of this for both a Michigan account of party loyalty and also standard interpretations of Irish party competition are discussed.
Publication View. 26106199. Party discipline and parliamentary government (1999). Bowler, Shaun, ... more Publication View. 26106199. Party discipline and parliamentary government (1999). Bowler, Shaun, 1958-,; Farrell, David M., 1960-,; Katz, Richard S. Abstract. ix, 304 p. : ill. ; 24 cm. Foreword -- Preface -- 1. Party cohesion, party discipline, and parliaments. ...
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.
Amidst a now extensive literature on the imputed 'decline of party' in Western democrac... more Amidst a now extensive literature on the imputed 'decline of party' in Western democracies, particular emphasis has been placed on the theme of orga-nisational decline, and on the supposed erosion of the organisational links which tie parties to electors. Much of this emphasis, inevitably, ...
This paper examines voter preferences when voters are allowed to rank order large numbers of cand... more This paper examines voter preferences when voters are allowed to rank order large numbers of candidates both within and between different parties (STV-PR). How voters complete such a ballot has consequences both for models of voting behaviour and also for patterns of party competition. More concretely, although such a system should promote a great deal of candidate centered voting behaviour, this does not, in fact, seem to occur for the case we examine. While Irish voters do seem to exhibit multiple party loyalties they are, nevertheless, party and not candidate specific loyalties. The consequences of this for both a Michigan account of party loyalty and also standard interpretations of Irish party competition are discussed.
Publication View. 26106199. Party discipline and parliamentary government (1999). Bowler, Shaun, ... more Publication View. 26106199. Party discipline and parliamentary government (1999). Bowler, Shaun, 1958-,; Farrell, David M., 1960-,; Katz, Richard S. Abstract. ix, 304 p. : ill. ; 24 cm. Foreword -- Preface -- 1. Party cohesion, party discipline, and parliaments. ...
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Papers by David Farrell