par Van Haute, Emilie ;Sandri, Giulia
Référence ISA world congress of sociology (13-19 July 2014: Yokohama)
Publication Non publié, 2014-06-13
Communication à un colloque
Résumé : Political parties in established democracies have faced three significant trends that have altered their relationships with the grassroots: declining voter loyalty, declining party membership, and the declining importance of cleavage politics. Parties have elaborated two main organizational responses to cope with such challenges: the introduction of functional alternatives to party membership, and the expansion of intra-party democracy. On the one hand, parties have been prompted to develop new strategies to broaden their boundaries and reach out to non-member supporters, which could erode even further their membership basis. On the other hand, parties have adopted a wide range of internal organizational reforms that, at least formally, give members more say over outcomes. Direct democracy is now used in a wide range of intra-party decision-making procedures such as candidate selection, leadership selection and policy positions formulation. These responses trigger significant changes in the role and power of the party on the ground, and can potentially generate conflicts between the various party strata. This panel will interrogate to what extent the recent trends in party organizational change have affected the balance of power within parties, and how this has modified the power and role of the party on the ground. A number of connected themes will be explored, such as the emergence of conflict between various party strata, the attitudes of the party on the ground towards organizational change, as well as how these changes are part of general transnational trends that overcome cultural and political differences between established democracies. Empirical and comparative papers are encouraged, but theoretical and qualitative papers are also welcome.

Documents en relation

DI-fusion