Rethinking intra-party cohesion: Towards a conceptual and analytical framework

Abstract

Intra-party cohesion (IPC) is a concept extensively used to assess institutional change and behaviour in legislative and party politics. In spite of its popularity, there is confusion about its meaning mostly derived from its multidimensional nature. This article aims to clarify the understanding of this term across three different fields of research (legislative studies, party factionalism and Hirschman’s theory applied to intra-party dynamics) and to build a conceptual framework that integrates several analytical dimensions. It uses quantitative network-based analysis of bibliographic data to provide a descriptive account of connections between these fields of the literature. Based on this, it identifies major challenges in the study of IPC and reveals the necessity to investigate it beyond ideology and legislative arena. To this end, we argue and illustrate how Hirschman’s theory applied to three levels of analysis allows us to formulate a framework suitable for the study of IPC.

Assessing the relative influence of party unity on vote choice: evidence from a conjoint experiment

“…Further, the results show that the effect of party unity depends on how it is operationalized. This has direct implications for the empirical study of party unity because it has, up until now, often singled out a party unity dimension to measure it (Close and Gherghina, 2019). Our findings suggest that results may not be robust to the choice of the measurement approach.…”

“…Theoretical arguments on party unity are hardly specific enough to derive precise expectations about the distinct effect of different manifestations of party unity. This theoretical coarseness, the utilization of different measurement approaches, and the lack of causal evidence in general contribute to inconsistent results regarding the effect of party unity on vote choice in published research (Close and Gherghina, 2019).…”

When institutions matter: electoral systems and intraparty fractionalization in Western Europe

“…Conversely, as disproportionality increases, the incentives for party splits or the emergence of new parties become smaller, as obtaining representation will be costlier in terms of votes to get (e.g., see Boucek 2012: 208;Ceron 2015). In such a scenario, and this is crucial for our argument, it would be more convenient for fractions-to say it with Hirschman (1970)-not to play the 'exit' card but rather to use the 'voice' option within their party (Close and Gherghina 2019). As a result, in highly disproportional contexts, the party system's format will be limited.…”

Intra-Party Deliberation, Under-Represented Groups, and Candidate Selection: The Case of Demos in Romania

“…Second, the organization of political parties relies -at least to some extent -on hierarchical structures. Parties have several units, decisions are taken at several levels, and the intra-party dynamic is competitive (Close and Gherghina, 2019). All these require division of tasks, coordination, and various degrees of members' inclusiveness in the decision-making process.…”