Advocacy Politics in Presidential Parties

Bruce, John M.; Clark, John A.; Kessel, John H.

doi:10.2307/1963937

Cited by 14 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Strom (1990) argues that an inclusive typology contains two additional objectives: office-seeking (maximize control over political office in the pursuit of private goods) and policy-seeking (maximize effect on public policy). In another article, Bruce et al (1991) add representation, which refers to political parties' objective to fulfil their role as 'mediating institutions' to act as representatives for the electorate. Finally, as pointed out by Sjöblom (1968), one should also include party cohesion (maximize party unity).…”

Section: Interests Power and Policy Changementioning

confidence: 99%

External shocks and policy change: Three Mile Island and Swedish nuclear energy policy

Nohrstedt¹

2005

Journal of European Public Policy

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In the study of the dynamics of policy change, the advocacy coalition framework (ACF) has attracted much attention. The ACF hypothesizes that external perturbations are a necessary condition for major policy change. Despite the importance of this insight, this article argues that it is still necessary to conduct research to uncover the micro-level processes at work when policies change following external perturbations. Two claims are introduced, one explaining major policy change in the wake of external perturbations in terms of learning and the other arguing that policy change derives from actions to safeguard political interests. As an empirical test, the claims are applied to the Swedish nuclear referendum following the Three Mile Island accident. Contrary to what the ACF predicts, the findings suggest that short-term interests can be important in explaining major policy change. Learning was not equally prominent but is still useful in explaining how political interests affect policy choices.

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Section: Interests Power and Policy Changementioning

confidence: 99%

External shocks and policy change: Three Mile Island and Swedish nuclear energy policy

Nohrstedt¹

2005

Journal of European Public Policy

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“…Political parties would be interested in shaping public opinion if politicians care about policy outcomes. The “policy seeking” party or politician has been a staple of the literature on coalition formation and avoidance (Laver and Schofield 1990), interparty politics (Bruce, Clark, and Kessel 1991), and electoral competition (Hill and Hurley 1999).…”

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confidence: 99%

When Parties Matter: The Conditional Influence of Party Positions on Voter Opinions about European Integration

Ray

2003

The Journal of Politics

186

143

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While the literature on public support for European integration often suggests that political elites play an important role in shaping public attitudes toward the European Union, the empirical findings to date reveal an inconsistent pattern of political effects. The causal direction of this relationship has also been questioned. Using data from the Eurobarometer surveys, this article tests hypotheses to explain national, partisan, and individual-level variations in the strength of the party/voter connection. The results of a nonrecursive model demonstrate that party positions do influence electorate opinion, but that this effect varies with levels of disagreement among parties, party unity, issue salience, and party attachment. These results help to explain when and where political parties will exercise the greatest influence over public opinion.Early research on European integration often described a process insulated from public opinion by the obscurity of intergovernmental negotiation and an elite consensus in favor of integration. With the expansion of the scope of EU policymaking, European integration has become more controversial and salient. The concomitant increase in treaty revisions, with their attendant referenda, gives public opinion a powerful direct role in constraining the future development of the EU.A number of authors writing on public support for European integration have argued that political elites exert a formative leadership over mass opinion. Hypothesized political influences have been found by some studies, and rejected by others, giving rise to ad hoc speculation about the conditional nature of political effects. This article will evaluate several arguments found in the literature on public support for European integration as well as theories drawn from the psychological literature on persuasion. The results indicate the conditions under which political parties can be vital factors in shaping public opinion. 1

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“…The McGovern-Fraser reforms now gave them the ability to accomplish this. Rather than lose control of state party operations to ideologues and activists who were more interested in national policy (Bruce et al, 1991), party professionals ceded control over presidential nominations by instituting primaries or participatory caucuses to maintain their power within their states. Between 1968 and 1972, the number of states holding presidential preference primaries increased by 72 percent.…”

Section: The Mcgovern-fraser Reformsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Party Leaders, Power and Change

Goldstein¹

2002

Party Politics

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A B S T R A C TShocks to the incentive structures of party organizations are few and far between, making it difficult to see how different types of party professionals respond to attempts to change the systems providing them with power. I make use of one such shock -the adoption of the McGovern-Fraser reforms by the Democratic parties of the 50 American states in the early 1970s -to test the proposition that party leaders who wield a great deal of power over their organizations are more likely to resist changes intended to decentralize power than party leaders who do not. With the help of a duration model, I find that party leaders respond to reform movements in predictable fashion. Leaders of traditional, organized parties are less likely to reform party rules than other types of leaders. However, electoral incentives also play an important role. Party leaders, even while safeguarding their power, must monitor the desires of important constituencies.

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Advocacy Politics in Presidential Parties

Cited by 14 publications

References 19 publications

External shocks and policy change: Three Mile Island and Swedish nuclear energy policy

External shocks and policy change: Three Mile Island and Swedish nuclear energy policy

When Parties Matter: The Conditional Influence of Party Positions on Voter Opinions about European Integration

Party Leaders, Power and Change

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