Objectif Political parties and party systems are crucial institutions for the functioning of a modern representative democracy. Two established explanations of party system fragmentation and volatility are social cleavages and institutions. However, both approaches do not sufficiently consider the role of political elites in shaping party systems. This research project therefore seeks to complement these two approaches by studying one of the most important ways through which political elites can shape party systems, namely the stability of party supply. Party supply is unstable when new parties emerge and existing parties disappear, split, merge or combine themselves into fluid electoral alliances. In order to understand how the instability in party supply affects party systems, the project asks two questions: (1) what causes the instability in party supply? (2) how does the instability in party supply affect voter behaviour and parties’ electoral support? The project builds on the state-of-the-art in the literature by studying the causes and consequences of those forms of party instability that have been under-researched, namely, party splits, mergers, pre-electoral alliances and dissolutions. In addition, it also constructs an aggregate index of party instability and considers its impact on party system volatility. In order to conduct these studies, the project will build a cross-national dataset recording the instability in party supply in approximately 30 OECD and newer European democracies. The analysis of this cross-national dataset will be complemented by the analysis of election surveys, interviews with political elites and academics, and qualitative case studies. The project will provide a major contribution to the understanding of the development of party systems in both established and new democracies. Champ scientifique social sciencespolitical sciencespolitical transitionselectionssocial sciencespolitical sciencesgovernment systemsdemocracy Programme(s) FP7-PEOPLE - Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013) Thème(s) FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IEF - Marie-Curie Action: "Intra-European fellowships for career development" Appel à propositions FP7-PEOPLE-2012-IEF Voir d’autres projets de cet appel Régime de financement MC-IEF - Intra-European Fellowships (IEF) Coordinateur THE UNIVERSITY OF EXETER Contribution de l’UE € 221 606,40 Adresse THE QUEEN'S DRIVE NORTHCOTE HOUSE EX4 4QJ Exeter Royaume-Uni Voir sur la carte Région South West (England) Devon Devon CC Type d’activité Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Contact administratif Gaynor Hughes (Ms.) Liens Contacter l’organisation Opens in new window Site web Opens in new window Coût total Aucune donnée
