PSC 522 Comparative Political Parties and Groups

Spring 2004

Munroe Eagles Wed.10am - 12:50pm

423 Park Hall Park Hall 502

645-2251 - ext. 423 Office Hrs: M & F 10-12

eagles@buffalo.edu

This course explores the nature and functioning of political parties, interest groups, and social movements in liberal democratic systems. Primary emphasis will be given to the study of political parties. We will address a variety of questions concerning the origins, structures, and evolution of these important linkage organizations. Theoretical approaches to the understanding of these bodies will be emphasized, and empirical applications will be primarily taken from European and Anglo-American political systems. By the end of the semester, participants should be familiar with the main theoretical and empirical issues in the comparative study of political parties.

Readings:

The following texts have been ordered, and are (or soon will be) available in the University Bookstore. They are also available on 2 day reserve at the library:

Gary Cox, Making Votes Count, 1997, pbk.

Russell Dalton and Martin P. Wattenberg, eds. Parties without Partisans, 2000 pbk.

Geoffrey Evans, ed., The End of Class Politics? Class Voting in Comparative Perspective,

1999, pbk.

Jennifer Lees-Marshment, Political Marketing and British Political Parties, 2001, pbk.

Peter Mair, Party System Change, 1997 pbk.

Peter Mair, ed., The West European Party System, Oxford: OUP, 1990, pbk

(Hereafter referred to as WEPS)

Robert Michels, Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical

Tendencies of Modern Democracies, (1911, 1964), pbk.

Patrick Seyd and Paul Whiteley, Labour's Grass Roots: The Politics of Party

Membership, Oxford: OUP, 1992, pbk.

Carolyn Warner, Confessions of an Interest Group: The Catholic Church and

Political Parties in Europe, 1999 pbk.

Paul Webb, David Farrell, and Ian Holliday, Political Parties in Advanced Industrial

Democracies, 2003, pbk. (Hereafter referred to as PPAID)

In addition to these books, a number of articles are also required readings. These are to be found on short-term reserve in the library and/or on the class website (available at http://www.cas.buffalo.edu/classes/psc/eagles/. A full list of seminar meeting topics and readings follows below.

This is an 'advanced' graduate course in comparative politics. As such, while there is no particular prerequisite for the course, some basic familiarity with other political systems, and with political parties and groups in those systems, is desirable. For those whose background in comparative politics may be somewhat weak or dated, I would recommend the purchase of Alan Ware's excellent Political Parties and Party Systems, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. A copy of this book will be available on 3-day reserve for consultation. This book contains a nice overview of many of the topics we're considering this semester, and might help you place the assigned (required) readings in a broader theoretical and empirical context.

Performance:

Students will be expected to be regular both in their attendance and their participation in seminar meetings. All readings listed below are 'required' (with the exceptions of those marked with an (*) – these are 'recommended' readings only). Each student will assume responsibility for making a total of three formal presentations to the seminar during the semester.

1) First, each student will make a general presentation based on the required readings for one of the weeks’ topics. Topics will be assigned during and after the first seminar meeting on January 14^th on a “first-come, first-served” basis. This presentation will involve critically evaluating the required readings, identifying questions or issues for general discussion, and taking a leading role in the ensuing seminar discussion. It should be accompanied by a brief (5 pages or less) summary document identifying the key points in the literature, to be turned in at the time of the presentation.

2) One objective of the seminar is to provide participants with an overview of the contemporary parties and party systems in advanced industrial democracies. Therefore, in addition to the required reading on the seminar topic of the day, students are expected to read a chapter based on the party system of a country. Each meeting of the seminar will begin with a 10-15 minute discussion of the party system in question, led by a student who has chosen to present that country. These presentations should follow a common format – they should describe the main parties in the system, identify the characteristics of the party system (number of parties; competitiveness; ideological reach; etc.), describe the electoral system and its effects, and any other details that are important. In support of this presentation, students will prepare a one to two page descriptive summary of the party system (party system characteristics; main parties; relationship to cleavage structure; election results, electoral system effects, etc.) ready for distribution to all seminar participants. An electronic copy of this handout should be sent to me at eagles@buffalo.edu (preferably in either PDF or HTML format), for uploading to the course website. These required reading and background for this will be based on chapters from Webb, Farrell and Holliday (eds). Political Parties in Advanced Industrial Democracies (PPAID), 2003.

3) Finally, each student will prepare a brief 10-15 minute presentation based on their research paper. We will set aside time during the last month of class meetings for these presentations.  Click here for a schedule of class presentations.

Final course grades will be assigned according to your performance on the following:

Seminar participation (including 3 presentations) 15%

Research essay 45%

Final examination (format to be determined) 40%

The research essay should reflect independent research wherever possible. It is imperative that they be well-researched and documented. A guide to good essay-writing can be found on my personal website (http://www.cas.buffalo.edu/classes/psc/eagles/). Since you will need to make a presentation on this work later in the semester, it is extremely important that you get working on this as soon as possible. Papers can be theoretical, genuinely comparative (i.e., comparing different parties along some specified dimension, or comparing similar parties across different political systems), or they can be theoretically-informed case studies. Please take some time early in the semester to look ahead over the readings to get some ideas for a possible paper topic, and plan to discuss your topic with me before you begin work on it.

Topics/Readings:

(*) indicates recommended reading

Week One – Wednesday, January 14^th

Introduction: Themes & Issues in the Study of Political Parties and Other Linkage Organizations

in Liberal Democracies

Mair, ed., "Introduction," WEPS, pp. 1-22;

Paul Webb, “Introduction: Political Parties in Advanced Industrial Democracies,”

In Webb et al., PPAID, Chapter 1, pp. 1-15.

(*) Daniele Caramani and Simon Hug, “The Literature on European Parties &

Party Systems Since 1945: A Quantitative Analysis,” European Journal

Of Political Research, 33, 4 (1998): 497-524.

(*) Gerald Pomper, “Concepts of Party,” Journal of Theoretical Politics, 4, 2

(1992): 143-159.

Week Two – Wednesday, January 21st:

Historical Perspectives on the Emergence of Parties & Party Systems I – Origins and Development of Mass Parties

Country Presentation – Britain- Reading: Webb, in Webb, et al., PPAID, Chpt. 2 pp. 16-45

Mair, ed., WEPS, chpts. 1, 2, 3, & 4 (pp. 25-49), & Chpt. 20, pp. 285-295.

Hans Daalder, “The Rise of Parties in Western Democracies,” and both in Larry Diamond

& Richard Gunther, eds., Political Parties & Democracy, Baltimore: Johns

Hopkins Press, pp. 3-51 (RESERVE)

James Cornford, "The Adoption of Mass Organization by the British Conservative

Party," in Erick Allardt and Jrjo Littunen, eds., Cleavages, Ideologies and Party

Systems: Contributions to Comparative Political Sociology, Transactions of the

Westermarck Society, Vol., 10, Helsinki: The Academic Bookstore, 1964, pp. 400-424. (RESERVE and WEBSITE)

Meyer Ostrogorski, “The Introduction of the Caucus into England,” Political Science

Quarterly, 8, 2 (June 1893): 287-316. (WEBSITE & JSTOR)

(*) Maurice Duverger, Political Parties, London: Metheun, 1951, 1967, Book 1, “Party

Structure,” pp. 4-202 (RESERVE)

Week Three – Wednesday, January 28^th

Developmental Typologies

Country Presentation – Italy - Reading: Bardi, in Webb, et al., PPAID, Chpt. 3 pp. 46-76.

Mair, ed., WEPS, Chpts. 5 & 6, pp. 50-72.

Hans-Jürgen Puhle, “Still the Age of Catch-Allism? ‘Volksparteien’ and ‘Parteienstaat’ in

Crisis,” in Richard Gunther, et al. ed., Political Parties: Old Concepts,

New Challenges, NY: Oxford UP, 1999, pp. 40-51 (RESERVE)

Richard Katz and Peter Mair, Party System Change, NY: Oxford, 1997; Chapter 5 “Party

Organization, Party Democracy, and the Emergence of the Cartel Party” pp. 93-119.

Richard Katz and Peter Mair, “Ascendancy of the Party in Public Office: Party

Organizational Change in Twentieth-Century Democracies,” in Richard Gunther,

et al. ed., Political Parties: Old Concepts, New Challenge, NY: Oxford UP, 1999,

pp. 113-135 (RESERVE)

R.K. Carty, “Parties as Franchise Systems: The Stratarchical Organizational Imperative,”

Party Politics, (2004); manuscript version available on class WEBSITE)

(*) Stephen Wolinitz, “Beyond the Catch-All Party: Approaches to the

Study of Parties and Party Organization in Contemporary Democracies,” in

Richard Gunther, et al. ed., Political Parties: Old Concepts, New Challenges, NY:

Oxford UP, 1999, pp. 136-165 (RESERVE)

(*)Angelo Panebianco, Political Parties: Organization and Power, NY: Cambridge UP,

1988, Part III, Chapters 4-9, pp. 47-181 (RESERVE)

Week Four – Wednesday, February 4^th

(Class cancelled – I will be out of town)

Week Five – Wednesday, February 11th

Internal Party Democracy and “The Iron Law of Oligarchy“

Country Presentation – Germany - Reading: Scarrow, in Webb, et al., PPAID, Chpt. 4, pp. 77-106.

Robert Michels, Political Parties: A Sociological Study of the Oligarchical Tendencies of

Modern Democracies, (1911, 1964).

(*) Jon Burchell, “Evolving or Conforming? Assessing Organizational Reform Within

European Green Parties,” West European Politics, 24, 3 (July 2001): 113-34

(WEBSITE)

Week Six – Wednesday, February 18th:

Applying Theoretical Approaches; Challenges of Testing the Cartel Party Thesis

Country Presentation – France - Reading: Knapp, in Webb, et al., PPAID, Chpt. 5, pp. 107-150.

Herbert Kitschelt, “Citizens, Politicians, and Party Cartellization: Political

Representation and State Failure in Post-industrial Democracies,” European

Journal of Political Research, 37, 2 (2000): 149-79 (RESERVE).

Ruud A. Koole, "Cadre, Catch-All or Cartel? A Comment on the Notion of The Cartel

Party," Party Politics, 2, 4 (1996): 507-23 (RESERVE);

Richard S. Katz and Peter Mair, "Cadre, Catch-All or Cartel? A Rejoinder" Party Politics,

2, 4 (1996): 525-34 (RESERVE)

Lisa Young, "Party, State and Political Competition in Canada: The Cartel Model

Reconsidered," Canadian Journal of Political Science, XXXI, 2 (June 1998): 339-58.

Elections Canada. “Backgrounders: Changes to the Party Financing Regulations,

January, 2004 (WEBSITE)

(*) Heather MacIvor, "Do Canadian Parties Form a Cartel?" Canadian Journal of Political

Science, 29 (1996): 317-34.

Week Seven – Wednesday, February 25^th

Theoretical Perspectives on Parties - Sociological Approaches

Country Presentation – BENELUX - Reading: Bardi, in Webb, et al., PPAID, Chpt. 6, pp.151-180.

Mair, WEPS, Parts II and III, pp. 75-282

Johan A. Lybeck, "Is the Lipset-Rokkan Thesis Testable?" Scandinavian

Political Studies, 8 (1985): 105-13 (WEBSITE).

Week Eight – Wednesday, March 3^rd

Political Sociology – II – The Debate Over Class Voting in Advanced Industrial Democracies

Country Presentation – Scandinavia - Reading: Sundberg, in Webb, et al., PPAID, Chpt. 7, pp. 181-216.

Geoffrey Evans, ed., The End of Class Politics? Class Voting in Comparative

Perspective, Princeton: Princeton UP, 1999.

Week Nine – Wednesday, March 10^th

Marketing Perspectives on Political Parties

Country Presentation – Ireland - Reading: Murphy & Farrell, in Webb, et al., PPAID, Chpt. 8, pp. 217-247

Jennifer Lees-Marshment, Political Marketing and British Political Parties,

Manchester, UK: Manchester UP, 2001

(*) S.M. Lipset, “The Americanization of the European Left,” Journal of

Democracy, 12, 2 (April 2001): 74-87; WEBSITE; also available online at:

http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/journal_of_democracy/v012/12.2lipset.html

Week Ten – Wednesday, March 24^th

Parties at the Grass Roots

Country Presentation –Spain - Reading: Holliday, in Webb, et al., PPAID, Chpt. 9 pp. 248-279.

Patrick Seyd and Paul Whiteley, Labour's Grass Roots: The Politics of Party

Membership, Oxford: OUP, 1992.

(*) Paul F. Whiteley and Patrick Seyd, High-Intensity Participation: The

Dynamics of Party Activism in Britain, Michigan: U of Michigan Press, 2002

Week Eleven – Wednesday, March 31^st

(RESEARCH PAPER PRESENTATIONS BEGIN TODAY)

Party Systems and Electoral Systems

Country Presentation – European Parties - Reading: Hix, in Webb, et al., PPAID, Chpt.10, pp. 280-309.

Gary W. Cox, Making Votes Count, Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1997.

(*) Giovanni Sartori, “The Party Effects of Electoral Systems,” in Larry Diamond

and Richard Gunther, eds., Political Parties and Democracy, Baltimore:

Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001, Chpt. 5, pp. 90-105.

Week Twelve – Wednesday, April 7^th

A Decline of Party?

Country Presentation – Canada- Reading: Carty, in Webb, et al., PPAID, Chpt. 12 pp. 345-378.

Russell Dalton and Martin P. Wattenberg, eds. Parties without Partisans, NY: OUP, 2000

(*) Patrick Seyd, “In Praise of Party,” Parliamentary Affairs, (available online through library RESERVE)

(*) S.M. Lipset, “The Indispensability of Political Parties,” Journal of Democracy,

11, 1 (January 2000): 48-55. (available online at:

http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/journal_of_democracy/v011/11.1lipset.html

Week Thirteen – Wednesday, April 14^th

Parties & Groups

Country Presentation – Australia - Reading: McAllister, in Webb, et al., PPAID, Chpt. 13 pp. 379-408.

Carolyn M. Warner, Confessions of an Interest Group: The Catholic Church and

Political Parties in Europe, Princeton: Princeton UP, 1999.

Week Fourteen – Wednesday, April 21^st

Challenges to Parties – The Rise of Social Movements

Country Presentation – New Zealand - Reading: Vowles, in Webb, et al., PPAID, Chpt. 14, pp. 409-438.

Webb et al., PPAID, Conclusion, Chpt. 15.

Karen Beckwith, “Beyond Compare? Women’s Movements in Comparative

Perspective,” European Journal of Political Research, 37, (2000): 431-

468 (WEBSITE)

Giovanni Capoccia, “Anti-System Parties: A Conceptual Reassessment,” Journal

of Theoretical Politics, 14, 1, (2002): 9-35 (WEBSITE)

Fedinand Muller-Rommel, "New Political Movements and 'New Politics'

Parties in Western Europe," in Russell Dalton and Manfred Kuechler,

Eds., Challenging the Political Order: New Social and Political

Movements in Western Democracies, New York: Oxford University

Press, 1990: pp. 209-31 (RESERVE).

(*) Sidney Tarrow, Power in Movement: Social Movements and Contentious

Politics, 2^nd ed., Cambridge UP, 1998 .

(*) Judith Hellman, Journies Among Women: Feminism in Five Italian Cities,

NY: Oxford UP, 1987.

(*) Lisa Young, Feminists and Party Politics, Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2000.