ECPR Panel on Party Regulation and Electoral Success, Reykjavik 2011

Posted by Daniela Romee Piccio on Thu, Jul 14 2011 13:49:00

ECPR Panel on Party Regulation and Electoral Success: Re-visiting the Cartel Party (Reykjavik, 25-27 August 2011)

Chair: Ingrid van Biezen (Leiden University)
Discussants: Fernando Casal Bértoa & Ekaterina Rashkova (Leiden University)

The link between institutions and outcomes has interested political scientists nearly as long as the discipline exists. It has only been in the recent years however that we observe an expansion of the institutional phenomena which we explore and new meanings of the phrase often used in the institutionalist tradition that ‘institutions matter’ have come to surface. One aspect of how institutions matter which has until recently remained under-explored is the relationship between party regulation and the success (or failure) of electoral contenders. The cartel party thesis suggests that the availability of state funding to political parties, the allocation mechanisms of public subsidies and other regulatory characteristics of the party law such as registration requirements may affect the degree of competition within the party system. With this panel we aim to encourage the exploration of the connection (or the lack thereof) between party law and electoral success. The panel includes papers which revisit the cartel party thesis and analyze the conditions that encourage or discourage the perpetuation of a party cartel.


Papers

Ingrid van Biezen & Ekaterina Rashkova - Breaking the Cartel: The Effect of State Regulation on Newcomers' Entry
Carina Bischoff - Barriers to Entry of New Parties
Karin Bottom - Cartelised party systems: what, where and how?
Anika Gauja - Comparative Gatekeeper Provisions in Party and Electoral Law: Sustaining the Cartel?
Gemma Loomes - The impact of cartel strategies in France, Greece, Denmark and Ireland

ECPR Conference website