Segnalazione bibliografica. Autori: Richard S. Katz, Peter Mair Party Politics January 2012 vol. 18 no. 1 107-111 Abstract A recurring problem in comparative politics is determining the extent to which models derived in one setting can be transferred directly to other settings. The original cartel party thesis was meant to account for developments that were beginning to be observed in the established democracies of western Europe in the 1990s. Many of the contemporary conditions that appeared to be driving those developments are to be found in other places, but of course preceded by quite different historical trajectories. The articles on parties and interest...

Segnalazione bibliografica. Autore: Richard S. Katz Party Politics January 2012 18: 3-6, Full Text: http://ppq.sagepub.com/content/18/1/3.full.pdf+html?rss=1

Segnalazione bibliografica. Autori: Thomas Brauninger, Martin Brunner, Thomas Daubler European Journal of Political Research, December 2011 Abstract It is well known that different types of electoral systems create different incentives to cultivate a personal vote and that there may be variation in intra-party competition within an electoral system. This article demonstrates that flexible list systems – where voters can choose to cast a vote for the list as ordered by the party or express preference votes for candidates – create another type of variation in personal vote-seeking incentives within the system. This variation arises because the flexibility of party-in-a-district lists results from voters'...

Segnalazione bibliografica. Autori: Geoffrey Evans, James Tilley British Journal of Political Science January 2012 42 : pp 137-161 Abstract Why has the association between class and party declined over time? Contrary to conventional wisdom that emphasizes the fracturing of social structures and blurring of class boundaries in post-industrial society, it is argued here that class divisions in party preferences are conditioned by the changing shape of the class structure and the effect of parties’ strategic ideological responses to this transformation on the choices facing voters. This thesis is tested using British survey data from 1959 to 2006. We demonstrate that increasing class heterogeneity...

Segnalazione bibliografica. Autori: Paolo Bellucci, Oliver Heath British Journal of Political Science January 2012 42 : pp 107-135 Abstract No consensus exists on the causal mechanisms underpinning declining voting based on social cleavages – religion and class – in Europe. Previous research has emphasized two main factors: social change within the electorate (bottom-up) and parties’ policy polarization (top-down). This article presents a third level of analysis that links parties and cleavage-related social organizations, producing a factor capable of reinforcing group identity and interest representation. This hypothesis was tested for Italy in 1968–2008, where changes in the party system provided a natural experiment to...