The Maltese general election of 1987

Howe, Stephen

doi:10.1016/0261-3794(87)90034-5

Cited by 10 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…This competitiveness is one of the reasons for record-breaking turnout levels (usually around 95%), without compulsory voting laws (Hirczy, 1995). A final characteristic of Maltese politics is the strong polarization between parties, which in the 1960s and 1980s briefly turned into open violence, posing a threat to the stability of the country (Baldacchino, 2002: 197–198; Howe, 1987; Zanella, 1990: 208).…”

Section: Research Design: a Case Study Of Maltamentioning

confidence: 99%

How Smallness Fosters Clientelism: A Case Study of Malta

Veenendaal

2019

Political Studies

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While it has long been assumed that smaller communities are more prone to particularistic politics, the relationship between state size and clientelism remains strongly undertheorized. Departing from the assumption that face-to-face contacts, overlapping role relations, stronger monitoring mechanisms, and the enhanced power of single votes contribute to the emergence of patron–client linkages, this article provides an in-depth case study of clientelism in Malta, the smallest member state of the European Union. The analysis reveals not only that patron–client linkages are a ubiquitous feature of political life in Malta, but also that the smallness of Malta strongly affects the functioning of clientelism by eliminating the need for brokers and enhancing the power of clients versus patrons. In addition, clientelism is found to be related to several other characteristics of Maltese politics, among which the sharp polarization between parties, extremely high turnout rates, profound executive dominance, and the incidence of corruption scandals.

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Section: Research Design: a Case Study Of Maltamentioning

confidence: 99%

How Smallness Fosters Clientelism: A Case Study of Malta

Veenendaal

2019

Political Studies

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“…On the centre-right, the Nationalist Party (PN) is the party of the middle class, of business and the church, the party of the Maltese establishment. The Malta Labour Party (MLP) is a democratic socialist party, which, though moving steadily towards the social-democratic centre since the mid-1980s, retains much of its working class credentials (Howe 1987). Although the Maltese party system dates from the 1920s, this distinctive polarisation of political life has its origins in the pre-industrial era and in the social and linguistic struggles of the nineteenth century that pitted the pro-Italian lobby against the pro-English faction (Howe 1987: 236).…”

Section: Background and Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Culture, Institutions and Campaign Effects: Explaining the Outcome of Malta's EU Accession Referendum

Cini¹

2004

West European Politics

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This survey examines the background to and the campaign preceding Malta's EU accession referendum. The result of the referendum, which was held on 8 March 2003, and which was the first of the EU accession referendums of 2003, was a 53.65% vote in support of membership, on a turnout of close to 91%. Explaining both the relatively low support for EU accession and the high turnout on referendum day involves weighing up the relative impact of distinctive features of Malta's political culture and institutional framework against more immediate campaign effects. While the conclusion is that the high turnout in the Maltese EU accession referendum can be traced to Malta's political culture, the relatively low but positive vote in favour of membership can only be fully understood by focusing on a range of factors, including campaign-related factors, such as the credibility of the arguments presented by the 'yes' and 'no' camps and the balance of resources available. The most important factor explaining the result of the Maltese referendum are, however, the cues provided by the political parties prior to and over the course of the referendum campaign.

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“…Elections are close, with turnouts extremely high, and slim majorities considered 'landslide' victories. 4 This ensures that the two parties are at permanent loggerheads, with election campaigns often giving rise to violent confrontation (Howe 1987;Schiavone 1992).…”

Section: Party Politics and Mintoff S Pipementioning

confidence: 99%

The nostalgic construction of community: Memory and social identity in Urban Malta

Mitchell

1998

Ethnos

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The Maltese general election of 1987

Cited by 10 publications

References 1 publication

How Smallness Fosters Clientelism: A Case Study of Malta

How Smallness Fosters Clientelism: A Case Study of Malta

Culture, Institutions and Campaign Effects: Explaining the Outcome of Malta's EU Accession Referendum

The nostalgic construction of community: Memory and social identity in Urban Malta

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