Suchergebnisse

This thesis analyses party organisation and internal power distribution in Portuguese parties, focusing on the territorial structures and their relations with the party at the national level. Notwithstanding the direct implications that contemporary party transformation processes have on territorial party strata and intermediate bodies, this is an under-researched topic in party literature. Thus, the purpose of this thesis is to cover this lacuna and to contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of Portuguese parties' functioning and internal dynamics. The thesis explores the case of the two main governing parties, the Socialist Party (Partido Socialista – PS) and the Social Democratic Party (Partido Social Democrata – PSD). The research first investigates the 'stratarchical argument' which posits the replacement of hierarchical configuration, and the increasing reciprocal autonomy between levels, in contemporary parties. This argument is explored through a dynamic perspective examining the two parties in different phases, from 1974 onwards. This perspective enables the examination of the salience of incumbency-opposition status in influencing the relations between levels and the role of path dependency factors, such as the genetic origin. Checks and balances rather than mutual separation seem to better describe the relations. Then, the emergence of personalisation and democratisation processes at the territorial level is analysed. To this aim, an in-depth examination of intra-party contests, held between 2003 and 2017, for selecting the federation presidents (PS) and the district presidents (PSD) is carried out, resorting to an original database of direct elections. The main findings indicate a pattern of low competitiveness and low elite renewal at this level of the organisation. Afterwards, the most recent intra-party democracy reforms (and reform attemps) are analysed, placing emphasis on their effects on the territorial structures, and the territorial elites' perspective on such reforms is presented. ...

n anni recenti molti partiti europei hanno cambiato i processi decisionali interni per includere nuovi attori e hanno aperto i confni dell'organizzazione partitica alla società civile [Hopkin 2001, Bille 2001, Hazan e Rahat 2010, Scarrow 2015, Sandri Seddone e Venturino 2015]. Ne è un classico esempio la selezione del leader di partito attraverso primarie più o meno aperte [Pilet e Cross 2014, Kenig et al 2015]. Questi cambiamenti organizzativi sono connessi al più ampio fenomeno della trasformazione dei modelli di partito, dal superamento del modello di partito di massa—nato nel primo novecento per organizzare le masse escluse dalla rappresentanza politica—sino alla affermazione dei modelli di partito «professionale-elettorale» e del «partito cartel» [Duverger1961, Panebianco 1982, Katz e Mair 1995]. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Focusing on the Portuguese case, this article aims to examine how members evaluate items of intra-party democracy and the ways in which their evaluations vary significantly across parties and key individual-level factors. It uses data from online surveys conducted in 2014 to grassroots members of three left-wing parties that differ in their organisational and participative profiles: the centre-left Socialist Party and the radical left Left Bloc and Livre. The results reveal more positive evaluations among members of radical left parties and for those featuring higher levels of activism and ideological congruence with the party. However, appraisals tend to be more negative when there are higher expectations of influencing the candidate selection process and of gaining professional benefits through membership. The findings suggest that democratising reforms may be a double-edged sword by attracting members who value this kind of change but at the same time fostering critical appraisals. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion