Suchergebnisse

Commentary on Philip Jones & John Hudson's (2001) use of a transactions cost economic approach to investigating political motivations within British political parties is provided. Although Jones & Hudson's contention that a party attempts to maintain its political identity to preserve voting partisanship, their contention that political parties emerge from groups' attempt to restrict voters costs of searching for information is questioned. In addition, their assertion that political parties' recognition of a consistent political identity motivates parties' desire to emphasize political integrity is challenged. Jones & Hudson's subsequent claim -- that political parties will engage in cooperative behavior since it produces optimal results for the collective -- is deemed representative of the failures of functionalist perspectives. It is concluded that rational choice perspectives must reconsider the relationship between collective political action & democracy. 21 References. J. W. Parker

Primary elections and membership ballots are becoming more common as a means of selecting candidates in European parties. This article assesses the likely implications of these changes for party cohesion by examining the American experience of primaries and contrasting US candidate selection with the membership ballots and primaries recently adopted by parties in the UK and Spain. It is argued that, in the absence of state regulation of candidate selection in European parties, these changes are unlikely to undermine party organizations as primaries have in the US. Instead, the European experience suggests that party leaders have been able to retain ultimate control over candidate selection, and that the democratization of the process has been more formal than real.

Defence date: 15 December 1995 ; Examining board: Prof. Jean Blondel, EUI (supervisor) ; Prof. Jose Ramon Montero, Istituto Juan March (co-supervisor) ; Prof. Richard Gunther, Ohio State University ; Prof. Maurizio Cotta, Università degli Studi di Siena ; Prof. Paul Heywood, University of Nottingham ; First made available online: 23 August 2016