Cartel party theory

Last updated

In politics, a cartel party or cartel political party is a party which uses the resources of the state to maintain its position within the political system, operating similar to a cartel. [1] The premise is that the parties do not compete with one another, but rather collude to protect their collective interests and keep small outsider parties from being viable. [1] [2]

Contents

Richard Katz and Peter Mair argue that "parties in Western Europe have adapted themselves to declining levels of participation and involvement in party activities by not only turning to resources provided by the state but by doing so in a collusive manner". [3]

Concept

The concept of the cartel party [4] was first proposed in 1992 as a means of drawing attention to the patterns of inter-party collusion or cooperation rather than competition; and as a way of emphasising the influence of the state on party development. In definitional terms, the cartel party is a type of party that emerges in advanced democratic polities and that is characterised by the interpenetration of party and state and by a pattern of inter-party collusion. With the development of the cartel party, the goals of politics become self-referential, professional and technocratic, and what little inter-party competition remains becomes focused on the efficient and effective management of the polity. The election campaigns that are conducted by cartel parties are capital-intensive, professionalized and centralized, and are organized on the basis of a strong reliance on the state for financial subventions and for other benefits and privileges. Within the party, the distinction between party members and non-members becomes blurred, in that through primaries, electronic polling, and so on, the parties invite all of their supporters, members or not, to participate in party activities and decision-making. Above all, with the emergence of cartel parties, politics becomes increasingly depoliticised. [5]

Contrast with mass parties

The cartel party is contrasted with the traditional view of the mass party, where political parties organize around the issues of large numbers of people. Mass parties are often linked to specific groups with specific policy needs and compete in elections to advance their constituents needs. Mass parties traditionally had little formal support from the government and were largely financed and organized from civil society. In Western Europe the growth of socialist parties in the 19th and early 20th century are traditionally linked to the growth of mass parties, who emerged in working class communities to advance issues like universal suffrage and labor reform.

Reasons for growth

Decline of mass parties

The mass party as an organizational model declined in many countries in the later 20th century due to political parties' gradual moderation of policy ideas and breakdown of traditional group identities. Party membership has been in decline in many democracies, which has led to a decline in financial and personal investment in parties from the electorate.

Political campaigning

To compensate for decline in popular support, parties have turned to larger and more expensive political campaigns. Parties have turned to increasingly expensive forms of campaigning that rely on large amounts of public subsidies and outside political contributions. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of Indonesia</span>

The politics of Indonesia take place in the framework of a presidential representative democratic republic whereby the President of Indonesia is both head of state and head of government and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the bicameral People's Consultative Assembly. The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Political party</span> Organization coordinating policy priorities and candidates for government positions

A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or policy goals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cartel</span> Mutually beneficial collusion among competing corporations

A cartel is a group of independent market participants who collude with each other as well as agreeing not to compete with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market. A cartel is an organization formed by producers to limit competition and increase prices by creating artificial shortages through low production quotas, stockpiling, and marketing quotas. Cartels can be vertical or horizontal but are inherently unstable due to the temptation to defect and falling prices for all members. Additionally, advancements in technology or the emergence of substitutes may undermine cartel pricing power, leading to the breakdown of the cooperation needed to sustain the cartel. Cartels are usually associations in the same sphere of business, and thus an alliance of rivals. Most jurisdictions consider it anti-competitive behavior and have outlawed such practices. Cartel behavior includes price fixing, bid rigging, and reductions in output. The doctrine in economics that analyzes cartels is cartel theory. Cartels are distinguished from other forms of collusion or anti-competitive organization such as corporate mergers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elections in Sweden</span>

Elections in Sweden are held once every four years. At the highest level, all 349 members of Riksdag, the national parliament of Sweden, are elected in general elections. Elections to the 20 county councils and 290 municipal assemblies – all using almost the same electoral system – are held concurrently with the legislative elections on the second Sunday in September.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Flemish Alliance</span> Flemish political party in Belgium

The New Flemish Alliance is a Flemish nationalist, conservative and Eurosceptic political party in Belgium. The party was established in 2001 by the right-leaning faction of the centrist-nationalist People's Union (VU).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony Giddens</span> British sociologist (born 1938)

Anthony Giddens, Baron Giddens is an English sociologist who is known for his theory of structuration and his holistic view of modern societies. He is considered to be one of the most prominent modern sociologists and is the author of at least 34 books, published in at least 29 languages, issuing on average more than one book every year. In 2007, Giddens was listed as the fifth most-referenced author of books in the humanities. He has academic appointments in approximately twenty different universities throughout the world and has received numerous honorary degrees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Political campaign</span> Attempt to influence the decision making process within a specific group

A political campaign is an organized effort which seeks to influence the decision making progress within a specific group. In democracies, political campaigns often refer to electoral campaigns, by which representatives are chosen or referendums are decided. In modern politics, the most high-profile political campaigns are focused on general elections and candidates for head of state or head of government, often a president or prime minister.

A party system is a concept in comparative political science concerning the system of government by political parties in a democratic country. The idea is that political parties have basic similarities: they control the government, have a stable base of mass popular support, and create internal mechanisms for controlling funding, information and nominations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Government of Indonesia</span> National government of Indonesia

The term Government of the Republic of Indonesia can have a number of different meanings. At its widest, it can refer collectively to the three traditional branches of government – the executive branch, legislative branch and judicial branch. The term is also used colloquially to mean the executive and legislature together, as these are the branches of government responsible for day-to-day governance of the nation and lawmaking. At its narrowest, the term is used to refer to the executive branch in form of the Cabinet of Indonesia as this is the branch of government responsible for day-to-day governance.

Stein Rokkan was a Norwegian political scientist and sociologist. He was the first professor of sociology at the University of Bergen and a principal founder of the discipline of comparative politics. He founded the multidisciplinary Department of Sociology at the University of Bergen, which encompassed sociology, economics and political science and which had a key role in the postwar development of the social sciences in Norway.

Peter Mair was an Irish political scientist. He was a professor of comparative politics at the European University Institute in Florence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Network (political party)</span> Italian political party

The Network, whose complete name was Movement for Democracy – The Network, was a political party in Italy led by Leoluca Orlando.

The Populars for Reform was a Christian-democratic and liberal political party in Italy.

Ingrid van Biezen is Professor of Comparative Politics at Leiden University, and the editor of the political science journal Acta Politica.

Self-expression values are part of a core value dimension in the modernization process. Self-expression is a cluster of values that include social tolerance, life satisfaction, public expression and an aspiration to liberty. Ronald Inglehart, the University of Michigan professor who developed the theory of post-materialism, has worked extensively with this concept. The Inglehart–Welzel Cultural Map contrasts self-expression values with survival values, illustrating the changes in values across countries and generations. The idea that the world is moving towards self-expression values was discussed at length in an article in the Economist. Expressing one's personality, emotions, or ideas through art, music, or drama, is a way to reveal oneself to others in a way that is special to them.

Demoicracy is a polity of multiple distinct people (demoi), polity of polities. The term is derived from demoi, meaning "peoples" and kratos (κράτος) meaning "power". It is apparently meant to become an alternative to democracy, understood as power of a single demos. The term is used mainly to describe the genus of the European Union (EU) but is also gaining currency in more general theories of democracy above state level.

Political finance covers all funds that are raised and spent for political purposes. Such purposes include all political contests for voting by citizens, especially the election campaigns for various public offices that are run by parties and candidates. Moreover, all modern democracies operate a variety of permanent party organizations, e.g. the Democratic National Committee and the Republican National Committee in the United States or the Conservative Central Office and the Labour headquarters in the United Kingdom. The annual budgets of such organizations will have to be considered as costs of political competition as well. In Europe the allied term "party finance" is frequently used. It refers only to funds that are raised and spent in order to influence the outcome of some sort of party competition. Whether to include other political purposes, e.g. public relation campaigns by lobby groups, is still an unresolved issue. Even a limited range of political purposes indicates that the term "campaign funds" is too narrow to cover all funds that are deployed in the political process.

Party funding in Austria has been subject to public regulation and public subsidies since 1975. Although the demarcation between campaign financing and routine activities due to overlapping election cycles and "permanent campaigning" is quite difficult, Austrian law has for a long time provided for separate subsidies from the federal budget. So have done the nine states of the Austrian federation and some municipalities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Business-firm party</span> Political party centered on its leader

A business-firm party, entrepreneurial party, or personal party is a type of political party that is centered on a charismatic political entrepreneur, most often created by that person to further their own interests.

Opposition is a fundamental element of democracy. Without the right to challenge and criticise ones government, its policies and its actions, democracy cannot develop. Political opposition, “ when B is opposed to the conduct of government A", can include opposition from parties not in government, as well as actors other than political parties.

References

  1. 1 2 Katz, Richard S.; Mair, Peter (2018). "The Cartel Party". Democracy and the Cartelization of Political Parties. doi:10.1093/oso/9780199586011.003.0006.
  2. Slater, Dan (2004). "Indonesia's Accountability Trap: Party Cartels and Presidential Power after Democratic Transition". Indonesia (78): 61–92. ISSN   0019-7289. JSTOR   3351288.
  3. K Detterbeck, Cartel Parties in Western Europe?, Party Politics, Vol. 11, No. 2, p173-191 (2005)
  4. Katz, Richard S.; Mair, Peter (January 1995). "Changing Models of Party Organization and Party Democracy: The Emergence of the Cartel Party". Party Politics. 1 (1): 5–28. doi:10.1177/1354068895001001001. ISSN   1354-0688. S2CID   143611762.
  5. Richard S Katz and Peter Mair, Changing Models of Party Organization and Party Democracy: the emergence of the cartel party, Party Politics, Vol. 1, No. 1, p 5-31 (1995).
  6. Hopkin, Jonathan (January 2002). "The emergence and convergence of the cartel party: parties, State and economy in Southern Europe". Archived from the original on 2021-10-17. Retrieved 2020-11-14.