Gaining insight into intergovernmental partisan ties
By benefiting from strong ties to national incumbents, local politicians can have a relative advantage over their challengers. This is problematic for the political process, and especially for young democracies. To improve democratic systems and representation, it is important to understand the reasons behind partisanship when local governments seek re-election. Thanks to EU funding, the project 'Partisan ties that matter? Exploring the advantages of national incumbency for local governments' (LOCAL PARTISAN TIES) addressed the incumbency advantage by exploring the local party politics of Chile and Turkey. Project members began by analysing the political and socioeconomic factors that may favourably influence local incumbents with strengthened national party attachments. They collected data on local election outcomes in Chile and Turkey from 1992 to 2008 and 1984 to 2009, respectively. Results showed that local parties for both countries benefit from partisan ties at the national level. The team then analysed local party budgets to determine whether national parties supply local politicians with more resources and if this helps them win elections. It also studied if local government expenditures are affected by parties' incumbency status with national governments. Findings revealed that the provision of resources such as free health care benefits to municipalities benefited national incumbents only in the case where such local constituencies had strong party identifiers. National incumbents use municipal resources to establish formidable local organisations in party strongholds. These local organisations then help parties win national elections. LOCAL PARTISAN TIES shed light on incumbency advantage and its impact on local and national partisan politics of two young democracies. Authorities and policymakers engaged in efforts involving Candidate Countries or the EU's immediate neighbours by land or sea stand to gain from the outcomes.