Зв’язок між регіональним і національним рівнем електоральної конкуренції та параметрами структуризації партійних систем в країнах Вишеградської групи

Oleksandra Cholovska

doi:10.31861/mhpi2019.40.132-139

Authors

Oleksandra Cholovska Ivan Franko National University of Lviv

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31861/mhpi2019.40.132-139

Keywords:

national elections, regional elections, party systems, nationalization and regionalization of party systems, the countries of the Visegrad Group

Abstract

The vast majority of party and electoral researches, including the countries of the Visegrad Group, focuses on the impact of elections and electoral systems on the institutionalization of parties and party systems, predominantly at the national level. However, the proposed article broadened this analysis mainly at the national level, in particular by analyzing regional elections and regional party systems. This is due to the fact that party-electoral interconnection is not one-tier, but instead is determined territorially, including territorial or administrative heterogeneity during elections. In other words, the study aims to show how region and regional elections (in the format of party system regionalization) affect the national political process, and, conversely, how national elections (in the format of party system nationalization) influence the regional political process in the context of the countries of the Visegrad Group. In this regard, the indicators of voter turnout, electoral volatility, influence of regional parties and coalitions, peculiarities and consequences of electoral blocsʼ and coalitionsʼ formation, parameters of territorial and socio-political cleavages and constructions of electoral systems and formulas were the directories of this relationship, both at national and regional levels, in the proposed study. Their use at the example of the Visegrad countries has made it possible to argue that the relationship between regional and national level of electoral competition and the parameters of the structuring of party systems in the analyzed region is largely reflected in nationalization processes at both national and regional level. Although it is theoretically found that such a relationship is bilateral and counter-dependent on the processes of regionalization of national elections and national electoral systems, or instead on nationalization of regional elections and regional party systems.

Author Biography

Oleksandra Cholovska, Ivan Franko National University of Lviv

Рostgraduate student of the Department of Political Science

References

Bernauer, J. and Bochsler, D. (2011), “Electoral entry and success of ethnic minority parties in Central and Eastern Europe: A hierarchical selection model”, Electoral Studies, Vol. 30 No. 4, pp. 738-755. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2011.07.001

Bielasiak, J. (2002), “The institutionalization of electoral and party systems in post-communist states”, Comparitive Politics, Vol. 34 No. 2, pp. 189-210. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/4146937

Bielasiak, J. (2005), “Party competition in emerging democracies: Representation and effectiveness in post-communism and beyond”, Democratization, Vol. 12 No. 3, pp. 331-356. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13510340500126764

Birch, S. (2001), “Electoral systems and party systems in Europe East and West”, Perspectives on European Politics and Society, Vol. 2 No. 3, pp. 355-377. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1570585018458768

Bochsler, D. (2010a) Territory and electoral rules in post-communist democracies. Palgrave Macmillan. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230281424

Bochsler, D. (2010b), “The nationalization of post-communist party systems”, Europe-Asia Studies, Vol. 62 No. 5, pp. 807-827. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09668136.2010.481387

Caramani, D. (2004) The Nationalization of Politics. The Formation of National Electorates and Party Systems in Western Europe. Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511616662

Chhibber, P. and Kollman, K. (2004) The Formation of National Party Systems. Federalism and Party Competition in Canada, Great Britain, India, and the United States. Princeton University Press.

Deschouwer, K. (2009), “Towards Regionalization of Statewide Electoral Trends in Decentralized States? The Cases of Belgium and Spain”, In: Swenden, W. and Maddens, B. (Eds.) Territorial Party Politics in Western Europe, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 31-46. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230582941_2

Fitjar, R. (2010), “Explaining variation in sub-state regional identities in Western Europe”, European Journal of Political Research, Vol. 49 No. 4, pp. 522-544. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6765.2009.01907.x

Jeffery, C., and Wincott, D. (2010), “The challenge of territorial politics: Beyond methodological nationalism”, In: Hay, C. (Ed.) New directions in political science, Palgrave, pp. 167-188. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-01421-4_9

Lijphart, A. (1977) Democracy in plural societies. Yale University Press.

Lipset, S., and Rokkan, S. (1967), “Cleavage structures, party systems, and voter alignments: An introduction”, In: Lipset, S. and Rokkan, S. (Eds.) Party systems and voter alignments: Cross-national perspectives, Free Press, pp. 1-64.

Livingston, W. (1956) Federalism and constitutional change. Clarendon. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/444551

Marek, P. and Powell, B. (2011), “Pre-election coalitions and party system development: Central European variations”, In: Annual meeting of the American Science Association, Washington.

McAllister, I., and White, S. (2007), “Political parties and democratic consolidation in post-communist societies”, Party Politics, Vol. 13 No. 2, pp. 197-216. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068807073858

Powell, E. and Tucker, J. (2014), “Revisiting electoral volatility in post-communist countries: New data, new results and new approaches”, British Journal of Political Science, Vol. 44 No. 1, pp. 123-147. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123412000531

Schakel, A. (2015), “Nationalisation of regional elections in Central and Eastern Europe”, East European Politics, Vol. 31 No. 2, pp. 229-247. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/21599165.2015.1036034

Schakel, A. and Dandoy, R. (2014), “Electoral cycles and turnout in multilevel electoral systems”, West European Politics, Vol. 37 No. 3, pp. 605-623. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2014.895526

Schakel, A. and Dandoy, R. (2017), “Introduction: An Analytical Framework for Studying Territoriality of the Vote in Eastern Europe”, In: Schakel, A. (Ed.) Regional and National Elections in Eastern Europe: Territoriality of the Vote in Ten Countries, Palgrave MacMillan, pp. 1-34. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-51787-6_1

Sikk, A. (2005), “How unstable? Volatility and the genuinely new parties in Eastern Europe”, European Journal of Political Research, Vol. 44 No. 3, pp. 391-412. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6765.2005.00232.x

Sitter, N. (2008), “Cleavages, party strategy and party system change in Europe, East and West”, Perspectives on European Politics and Society, Vol. 3 No. 3, pp. 425-451. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15705850208438844

Tavits, M. (2008), “On the linkage between electoral volatility and party system instability in Central and Eastern Europe”, European Journal of Political Research, Vol. 47 No. 5, pp. 537-555. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6765.2008.00782.x

Thorlakson, L. (2009), “Patterns of Party Integration, Influence and Autonomy in Seven Federations”, Party Politics, Vol. 15 No. 2, pp. 155-177. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068808099979

Tiemann, G. (2012), “The nationalization of political parties and party systems in post-communist Eastern Europe”, Communist and Post-Communist Studies, Vol. 45 No. 1-2, pp. 77-89. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.postcomstud.2012.02.009

Treisman, D. (2007) The architecture of government. Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511619151

Van Houten, P. (2007), “Regionalist challenges to European states: A quantitative assessment”, Ethnopolitics, Vol. 6 No. 4, pp. 545-568. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/17449050701607648