New party parliamentary entry in Western Europe, 1960-2010

Abstract

Although the number of studies of new political parties is gradually increasing, we still lack a comprehensive understanding of when new parties manage to enter national parliaments. The objective of this article is to explain the circumstances under which new parties enter national parliaments for the first time. Unlike earlier research, this study does not focus on individual party families. Instead, generally applicable explanations are sought. This is achieved through an examination of the importance of the political opportunity structure, that is, the external environment new parties face in their quest for parliamentary representation. Using data collected for 18 Western European countries for the period 1960-2010, the analysis shows that institutional factors are important to understand new party parliamentary entry. The sociological factors analysed in the study, however, do not seem to be of equal importance.

Political opportunity structures and the parliamentary entry of splinter, merger, and genuinely new parties

“…Thresholds are usually expressed as a fixed vote percentage (Taagepera and Shugart 1989) applied nationally, which once reached guarantees access to the distribution of parliamentary seats. High national electoral thresholds can be a huge obstacle for new party entry, and the evidence gathered by Bolin (2014) seems to suggest that they indeed matter. Summing up, the opportunity for new parliamentary entry should be significantly increased by a permissive electoral system (Bolleyer and Bytzek 2013), characterized by high proportionality, high district magnitudes and low electoral thresholds, and it is essential to include all of them in the analysis to properly test our hypothesis: H.1: The more permissive the electoral system, the higher the likelihood of new party entry.…”

Türki̇ye Si̇yaseti̇nde Yeni̇ Parti̇leri̇n Seçi̇m Sonuçlari Üzeri̇ne Bi̇r Değerlendi̇rme

“…Birleşme partilerinin yeni olarak kabul edilip edilemeyeceği tartışmalı bir konudur. Konuya ilişkin yazında ilk görüş, zaten sistemde var olan partilerin yeni bir örgütlenme ya da isim altında seçime girmelerinin, seçim sonucunda parlamentoya girebilmek ya da mümkün olan en fazla sandalyeyi kazanmak adına atılmış bir adım olduğu ve bu nedenle yeni olarak kabul edilemeyeceği yönündedir (Bolin, 2014;Hug, 2001;Tavits, 2006). Buna karşın bir diğer bakış açısına göre ise amacının ne olduğuna bakılmaksızın farklı siyasal partilerin birleşmesi sonucu oluşan tüm partiler yeni kabul edilir (Chiru, 2020).…”

Is the “new” always “new”? Theoretical framework problems of new political parties’ research: The Czech Republic experience

“…There are essential comparative studies mapping development especially in Western democracies and case studies focusing on particular cases of specific and often successful new political parties; however, there are contributions formulating their own analytical frameworks and theoretical approaches as well (e.g. Mesežnikov -Gyárfášová -Bútorová 2013;Bolin 2014;Arter 2016;Hanley -Sikk 2016;Kosowska -Gąstoł -Sobolewska -Myślik 2017;Krašovec 2017;Marmola 2017;Emanuele -Chiaramonte 2018;Hynčica -Šárovec 2018;Novotný -Šárovec 2018ab or Passarelli -Tuorto 2018. The outcomes of the past few years have so far summarised the fact that the new political parties' agenda has its place in the current research.…”