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Parliamentary party coherence or factionalism: a consequence of candidate selection methods? A theoretical framework.

par Close, Caroline
Référence ECPR Joint Sessions of Workshops, Workshop 19 ‘Party primaries in Europe. Consequences and challenges’ (10th-15th April 2012: Antwerp)
Publication Non publié, 2012-04-13

Communication à un colloque

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Résumé :

This paper focuses on the effects of candidate selection methods on intra-party factionalism, by building a theoretical framework that combines two fields of study in political science. First, the paper tackles the topic of party factionalism, and gives new perspectives on how to define – and measure – such phenomenon, in terms of low discipline in MPs’ behaviors and low cohesion in MPs’ attitudes. Second, this work reviews the literature on candidate selection methods, with a particular attention directed towards how these selection processes have been classified and how they have been pointed to as potential causes of party cohesion, discipline or factionalism. Then, the paper builds a model that hypothesizes how candidate selection methods might impact on parliamentary party factionalism. In this way, the paper explores some of the dimensions proposed by the workshop. First, it elaborates hypotheses on the consequences of candidate selection methods on intra-party politics, specifically on MPs’ attitudes and behaviors. Second, the paper proposes to test those hypotheses in the European context, whereas most of the literature devoted to the study of primaries systems and factionalism has been limited to the American parties.