Reiser / Holtmann Farewell to the Party Model?

Independent Local Lists in East and West European Countries
1. Auflage 2008
ISBN: 978-3-531-90923-3
Verlag: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: 1 - PDF Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, 290 Seiten, eBook

Reihe: Urban and Regional Research International

Marion Reiser, Everhard Holtmann Local independent lists as political actors are a common phenomenon on the local level in many European countries - in established Western democracies as well as in the 'new' democracies in Central and Eastern Europe. In some West European countries, these non-partisan groups have been an established and stable element in the local political system for decades. Ty- cally, they understand themselves as protectors of a harmonious factual political style. In their opinion, good local politics is not compatible with party politics so they consequently perceive themselves as non-parties. During the last two d- ades, presence and success of local lists have steadily increased in these co- tries. Furthermore, during the last years local lists emerged also in countries which had been formerly fully party-politicised on the local level. Explanations offered for these developments are often based on the observation of a general decline of trust in established parties and politicians. Hence, it has been argued that the disenchantment with political parties is a fertile ground for local lists. For the Central and East European countries, this argument can be - ployed only to a certain extent. Local lists established themselves in the early 1990's as important actors on the local level especially due to a lack of party organisation in the process of democratic consolidation.

Reiser, Marion, Dr., is Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Political Science at the Martin-Luther-University of Halle-Wittenberg.
Holtmann, Everhard, Dr., is Professor of Political Science at the Martin-Luther-University of Halle-Wittenberg.

Zielgruppe

Professional/practitioner

Autoren/Hrsg.

Reiser, Marion

Holtmann, Everhard

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1;Table of Contents;6
2;Introduction;8
3;Local Lists in Europe;12
3.1;1. Introduction;12
3.2;2. The question of definition;12
3.3;3. Party systems as reference point for independent list’s analysis;13
3.4;4. Independent lists as explaining and dependent variable;13
3.5;5. Operating ‘inside’ and apart from ‘outside’: strategic advantage of independent lists;15
3.6;6. Lines of convergence for parties and ‘non-parties’: the ongoing parliamentarisation of local politics;16
3.7;7. Local competition with independent lists: not a win-win-situation for parties;17
3.8;8. Two heuristic paths for comparative analysis of independent lists: systemic and actor’s dimension;18
3.9;9. References;19
4;Local Lists in the Czech Republic;22
4.1;1. Introduction;22
4.2;2. Institutional framework of local lists in the Czech Republic;23
4.3;3. Typology of independent local lists;28
4.4;4. Position of the non-partisan and independent lists within the party system on the local level;32
4.5;5. Independent lists in terms of political culture;35
4.6;6. Conclusion;36
4.7;7. References;38
5;Independent Local Lists in Croatia: In Search for a Composite Theoretical Frame;40
5.1;1. Introduction;40
5.2;2. Local Self-Government in Croatia: Development and Current State;41
5.3;3. Local Political System in Brief;43
5.4;4. Independent Local Lists: Scyllas and Haribdas of Local Politics;45
5.5;5. Independence in a Composite Theoretical Frame;50
5.6;6. Conclusion;58
5.7;7. References;59
6;Local and National Parties in Hungary;64
6.1;1. Introduction;64
6.2;2. A Theory on the Emergence of Local Parties;64
6.3;3. Definition and Typology;68
6.4;4. The Local Government and Electoral Systems;70
6.5;5. Local Parties in Hungary;72
6.6;6. Local Chapters and Local Parties;80
6.7;7. Conclusions;84
6.8;8. References;85
7;Citizen Electoral Alliances in Estonia: Citizen Democracy versus Cartel Parties;86
7.1;1. Introduction;86
7.2;2. Theoretical Background and Definitions;87
7.3;3. The Heyday of CEA’s, 1993-2002;90
7.4;4. The Decline of CEA’s, 2002-2005;94
7.5;5. Conclusion;104
7.6;6. References;105
8;Non-party Lists in Local Election in Poland;106
8.1;1. Introduction;106
8.2;2. Theoretical framework;107
8.3;3. Empirical analysis of the 2006 local election in Poland;110
8.4;4. Summary;126
8.5;5. References;127
9;Independent Local Lists in East and West Germany;128
9.1;1. Introduction;128
9.2;2. Conceptual framework and methods;129
9.3;3. Presence and success of local lists in Germany;132
9.4;4. Profile of local lists;135
9.5;5. Different types of local lists in Germany?;144
9.6;6. Conclusion: Local lists in East and West Germany;146
9.7;7. References;147
10;Local Political Parties in the Netherlands: Anomaly or Prototype?;150
10.1;1. Local political parties seen from a party change perspective;150
10.2;2. Local politics in the Netherlands;151
10.3;3. Political parties at the local level;151
10.4;4. Empirical Analysis;156
10.5;5. Local parties: anomaly or prototype?;166
10.6;6. References;167
11;All Politics is Local, Partisan or National? Local Lists in Belgium;170
11.1;1. Introduction;170
11.2;2. Between conceptual idealism and operational realism: towards a working definition of local lists;171
11.3;3. The ecology of local lists in Belgium;177
11.4;4. The sociology of local lists in Belgium;188
11.5;5. Local lists: what’s in a name?;191
11.6;6. References;192
12;Local Parties in Sweden;196
12.1;1. Introduction;196
12.2;2. Local party systems in Sweden;197
12.3;3. Explaining the success of local parties;200
12.4;4. Conclusion;208
12.5;5. References;209
13;Independent Lists in Norwegian Local Politics;212
13.1;1. Introduction;212
13.2;2. Methods;214
13.3;3. The Norwegian Local Electoral System;214
13.4;4. What is a non-partisan list?;215
13.5;5. Non-partisan alternatives in Norwegian local politics – supply and support;216
13.6;6. Non-partisan lists – a deviant case in local politics?;221
13.7;7. Concluding remarks;230
13.8;8. References;233
14;Independents and Citizen’s Groups in Portuguese Municipalities;234
14.1;1. Introduction;234
14.2;2. Historical background;236
14.3;3. Institutional framework;238
14.4;4. The 2001 local elections;243
14.5;5. The case of Lisbon;248
14.6;6. Final remarks;250
14.7;7. References;251
15;Multi-Party Politics in England: Small Parties, Independents, and Political Associations in English Local Politics;254
15.1;1. Introduction;254
15.2;2. English Local Government: Too big to be local; Too little power to be government;255
15.3;3. Politics beyond the Mainstream;258
15.4;4. Small Parties: Impact or Success and a Continuum of Assessment;267
15.5;5. Conclusions;272
15.6;6. References;273
16;Conclusion: Independent Local Lists in East and West European Countries;278
16.1;1. Introduction;278
16.2;2. The contributions;279
16.3;3. Theoretical and conceptual outcomes;285
16.4;4. Empirical findings;288
16.5;5. Final remarks;294
16.6;6. References;295
17;List of Contributors;296

Local Lists in Europe.- Local Lists in East and Central European Countries.- Local Lists in the Czech Republic.- Independent Local Lists in Croatia: In Search for a Composite Theoretical Frame.- Local and National Parties in Hungary.- Citizen Electoral Alliances in Estonia: Citizen Democracy versus Cartel Parties.- Non-party Lists in Local Election in Poland.- A bridging case?.- Independent Local Lists in East and West Germany.- Local Lists in West European Countries.- Local Political Parties in the Netherlands: Anomaly or Prototype?.- All Politics is Local, Partisan or National? Local Lists in Belgium.- Local Parties in Sweden.- Independent Lists in Norwegian Local Politics.- Independents and Citizen’s Groups in Portuguese Municipalities.- Multi-Party Politics in England: Small Parties, Independents, and Political Associations in English Local Politics.- Conclusion.- Conclusion: Independent Local Lists in East and West European Countries.

Leseproben

Local Lists in Europe (p. 11)

Everhard Holtmann

1. Introduction

The phenomenon of independent local lists (Ill’s) has not yet been a subject of international comparative research. Of course, there are manifold reasons for this lack of scientific attendance, but among the most serious are the absence of internationally agreed on definitions, a common conceptual framework, and above all, a first international oversight. The latter will be the ambitious project of this book, while the forthcoming paragraphs will deal with questions of a comprehensive definition and sketches of a possible conceptual framework.

The starting point is: how can we deal with the obvious heterogeneity of independent local lists regarding case studies of different European countries? Is there a definition that fits all cases? While keeping in mind national distinctions we must ask what influences the presence and success of independent local lists and how we can comprise these features in a comprehensive conceptual framework for comparative research.

2. The question of definition

To begin, we should deal with the question of definition. Local lists in European countries can be characterised by two criteria:

1. Ill’s are focussed on a local jurisdiction. Independent lists are solely locally organised. Nevertheless, in the local arena Ill’s are often confronted with local parties sections. Regarding this local co-existence of parties and nonparty formations, we need a further distinctive mark for Ill’s and that means:

2. A typical non-partisan local list is focussed – and limited – on one single local jurisdiction, dealing here primarily (if not to say only) with problems and tasks of ‘its’ municipality or county. That means independent local lists practise a political self-restraint concerning supra-local politics. As local lists, they are ‘localist’.

However, there are certain clandestine sub-species – even if they are formally local lists, which oscillate between covered party loyalty and partial detachment. In some articles presented in this book, Ill’s run for example as "hidden local lists", or as "formally independent lists" sponsored by political parties (senior parties pushing local junior descendents), or as "revealed party-independent" lists (i.e. see the contribution of Copus et al. in this book).

3. Party systems as reference point for independent list’s analysis

Now to the conceptual question which is of course much more complex. One basic assumption is: party systems normally act – or, at least, should do so from a normative point of view – like ‘brokers’ between state and civil society. Agreeing to this does not mean to accept the classification scheme of "Cartel Party" uncritically (see for this debate Katz/Mair 1995 and Koole 1996).

But in all modern political systems, parties are expected to perform this intermediate core function. Playing this role in the local fields of domestic politics, too, political parties here must bind together the societal system, where social conflicts emerge, and the political system is charged with managing these conflicts in terms and modes of politics. So both spheres are held in a specific interrelation by means of party politics.

Über Autor(innen)

Reiser, Marion, Dr., is Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Political Science at the Martin-Luther-University of Halle-Wittenberg. Holtmann, Everhard, Dr., is Professor of Political Science at the Martin-Luther-University of Halle-Wittenberg.