Suchergebnisse

The variables explaining party system fragmentation have been investigated extensively, but little is known about changes in the number of parties over time within countries. This article is an attempt to fill the gap by explaining the entry of new viable competitors in party systems after the founding election. Using empirical evidence from Spain, we show that when there is an electoral market failure and a high number of perfectly elastic voters, there is a high probability of new viable entrants. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Ltd., copyright holder.]

The variables explaining party system fragmentation have been investigated extensively, but little is known about changes in the number of parties over time within countries. This article is an attempt to fill the gap by explaining the entry of new viable competitors in party systems after the founding election. Using empirical evidence from Spain, we show that when there is an electoral market failure and a high number of perfectly elastic voters, there is a high probability of new viable entrants.

Abstract
While no stranger to new political parties, Slovenia's party system became much more unstable after 2008 with the constant arrival of electorally very successful parties. Further, while the citizens' satisfaction with democracy and trust in political institutions has never reached the heights seen in Western Europe, the crisis years saw them drop to historical lows. In these circumstances, one may expect successful new parties to assure greater responsiveness, or a balance between responsible and responsive politics, and to bring improvements to citizens' opinion on their satisfaction with democracy and trust in political institutions. In addition, new parties are usually more prone to democratic innovations, which can be associated with the popular idea of introducing stronger intra-party democracy in their internal functioning. The analysis shows that in 2014 Slovenia experienced both the nadir of public opinion on democracy and the political system, and the most electorally successful new party. Nevertheless, improvements in satisfaction with democracy and the political system only slowly emerged after 2014, to a considerable extent coinciding with the return to economic prosperity, while even these improvements left enough room for yet another successful new party at the 2018 elections. Concerning innovations in intra-party democracy, we are only able to identify some smaller democratic innovations. Given this, it seems that the new parties themselves have had a relatively limited impact on democracy in Slovenia.

The rise of the Pirate Party (Piratenpartei) in Germany poses a challenge to the established parties. The young party, which focuses on Internet issues, has experienced a sudden and massive rise in popularity. It is especially popular among many young people, who feel that the issues taken up by the party are derived straight from their everyday lives. Furthermore, the young party offers ways of participation that do not take up too much time. Its distinctly anti-hierarchical structure, which suggests extreme transparency, is rather attractive to young people. But besides challenges, the rise of the Pirate Party also presents opportunities. Topics and trends that have inadvertently been neglected can be taken up. Also, new forms of participation can be incorporated. The Junge Union Deutschlands has successfully taken up this challenge.

The large number of new parties appearing in western democracies and their actual and potential impacts offer important avenues of research on parties in general. This paper reviews work on the definition and enumeration of new parties, their variability, classification and distinctiveness, and the development and testing of theory concern ing new parties. It suggests areas of research that, in the author's view, will provide evidence of the need to integrate an understanding of new-party phenomena in the broader spectrum of political studies.