Party System Closure

Party Alliances, Government Alternatives, and Democracy in Europe

Fernando Casal Bértoa and Zsolt Enyedi

Comparative Politics

A unique dataset, containing information on the ministerial composition of more than a thousand governments, 65 European party systems across more than 170 years
Provides a new conceptual framework structured around the notions of party system closure, party blocs, and poles of parties
A comprehensive analysis of the determinants and consequences of party system institutionalization, using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods

Party System Closure

Party Alliances, Government Alternatives, and Democracy in Europe

Fernando Casal Bértoa and Zsolt Enyedi

Description

Party System Closure maps trends in interparty relations in Europe from 1848 until 2019. It investigates how the length of democratic experience, the institutionalization of individual parties, the fragmentation of parliaments, and the support for anti-establishment parties, shape the degree of institutionalization of party systems. The analyses presented answer the questions of whether predictability in partisan interactions is necessary for the survival of democratic regimes and whether it improves or undermines the quality of democracy. The developments of party politics at the elite level are contrasted with the dynamics of voting behaviour. The comparisons of distinct historical periods and of macro-regions provide a comprehensive picture of the European history of party competition and cooperation.

The empirical overview presented in the book is based on a novel conceptual framework and features party composition data of more than a thousand European governments. Party systems are analysed in terms of poles and blocs, and the degree of closure and of polarization is related to a new party system typology. The book demonstrates that information collected from partisan interactions at the time of government formation can reveal changes that characterise the party system as a whole.

The empirical results confirm that the Cold War period (1945-1989) was exceptionally stable, while the post-Berlin-Wall era shows signs of disintegration, although more at the level of voters than at the level of elites. After three decades of democratic politics in Europe (1990-2019), the West and the South are looking increasingly like the East, especially in terms of the level of party de-institutionalization. The West and the South are becoming more polarised than the East, but in terms of parliamentary fragmentation, the party systems of the South and the East are converging, while the West is diverging from the rest with its increasingly high number of parties. As far as our central concept, party system closure, is concerned, thanks to the gradual process of stabilization in the East, and the recent de-institutionalization in the West and South, the regional differences are declining.

Comparative Politics is a series for researchers, teachers, and students of political science that deals with contemporary government and politics. Global in scope, books in the series are characterised by a stress on comparative analysis and strong methodological rigour. The series is published in association with the European Consortium for Political Research. For more information visit: www.ecprnet.eu. The series is edited by Susan Scarrow, Chair of the Department of Political Science, University of Houston, and Jonathan Slapin, Professor of Political Institutions and European Politics, Department of Political Science, University of Zurich.

Party System Closure

Party Alliances, Government Alternatives, and Democracy in Europe

Fernando Casal Bértoa and Zsolt Enyedi

Comparative Politics

Introduction: A Systemic Approach to Inter-Party Relationships
1. The Logic of Inter-party Competition and Cooperation: Blocs, Poles, Institutionalization, and Closure
2. A New European Dataset and the Measurement of Party System Closure Data
3. Currently Functioning European Party Systems
4. Historical (i.e. Defunct) European Party Systems
5. Party System Closure in Comparative Perspective
6. From Time to Time: Democratic Age, Birth, and Closure
7. The Whole is More than the Sum of the Parts: Party Institutionalization and Closure
8. Size Does Matter: The Number of Parties and Closure
9. Pulling Apart: Polarization and Closure
10. The Explanatory Model of Closure: Factors and Mechanisms
11. Survival vs. Quality: Democratic Consequences of Closure
Conclusion: How Do Party Systems Institutionalize?

Party System Closure

Party Alliances, Government Alternatives, and Democracy in Europe

Fernando Casal Bértoa and Zsolt Enyedi

Comparative Politics

Author Information

Fernando Casal Bértoa, Associate Professor of Politics and International Relations, University of Nottingham,Zsolt Enyedi, Professor of Political Science, Central European University

Fernando Casal Bértoa is an Associate Professor in the School of Politics and International Relations, University of Nottingham. He is co-director of REPRESENT: Research Centre for the Study of Parties and Democracy. His work has been published in numerous scholarly journals, such as the Journal of Politics, European Journal of Political Research, Sociological Methods and Research, Electoral Studies, West European Politics, Party Politics, European Political Science Review and Democratization. He was awarded the 2017 Gordon Smith and Vincent Wright Memorial Prize, the 2017 AECPA Prize for the Best Article and the 2018 Vice-Chancellor Medal of the University of Nottingham for 'exceptional achievements'.

Zsolt Enyedi is Professor at the Political Science Department of Central European University. He (co)authored two and (co)edited eight volumes and published numerous articles and book chapters, mainly on party politics and political attitudes. His articles appeared in journals such as European Journal of Political Research, Political Studies, Political Psychology, West European Politics, Party Politics, Europe-Asia Studies, Perspectives on Politics, European Review, etc. He has received a number of academic awards such as the Rudolf Wildenmann Prize, 2003, Bibó Prize, 2004, and the Hungarian Academy Award 2020.

Party System Closure

Party Alliances, Government Alternatives, and Democracy in Europe

Fernando Casal Bértoa and Zsolt Enyedi

Comparative Politics

Reviews and Awards

"[t]his is a brilliant piece of comparative politics, focusing exhaustively on democratic Europe without neglecting any of its parts...the book builds compellingly a theoretical and empirical strategy to sustain its main arguments...the resulting overview is extremely original...This original contribution to the discussion about the future and threats to our democracies may be one of the most important advances made by a book that Peter Mair would have been very proud of." -- Juan Rodríguez-Teruel, Party Politics

"This book is excellent reading for scholars interested in party systems, the functioning and quality of democracy. Resulting from the rigorous methodological approach of the authors and the valuable conclusions with which they successfully defy widespread assumptions about the party system, this book should be mandatory reading. Exceptionally well written, it constitutes a perfect complement to the debate on the institutionalization of party systems by establishing a new tool to capture it - party system closure. Undoubtedly, this book is destined to become a classic." -- Teodora Yovcheva, Irish Political Studies

"the volume is destined to become the main point of reference in the study of party system institutionalization." -- Leonardo Puleo, Political Studies Review

"a unique, informative and insightful longitudinal study of how European countries were governed in the last century'" -- Davide Vittori, Italian Political Science Review

"This is a fascinating and important book, in which Fernando Casal Bértoa and Zsolt Enyedi provide an original and thoughtful perspective on party system institutionalization in Europe. They persuasively disentangle the complex relationships between electoral volatility, parliamentary fragmentation, polarization, and the patterns of inter-party competition and cooperation for government office. Refining the approach to party system change advanced by the late Peter Mair, Party System Closure is an extraordinary work of political science and a must-read for any scholar of comparative party politics." -- Ingrid van Biezen, Professor of Comparative Politics, University of Leiden

"Impressive in its scope, both temporally and geographically, this book addresses some of the most pressing issues of our time. Drawing on the approach to party systems pursued by Giovanni Sartori, and then by Peter Mair, it asks how patterns of interaction among parties, both competitive and cooperative, influence the quality, and ultimately the survival of democratic regimes. In this era of increasing polarization and the rise of anti-party-system parties, it provides both significant historical and invaluable contemporary insights. It is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand European party politics today, or in historical perspective." -- Richard S. Katz, Professor of Political Science, the John Hopkins University