POL30830 Parties and Party Competition

Academic Year 2019/2020

How can we identify differences between party systems, determine party positions, and measure public opinion? Do parties keep their promises or are politicians “pledge breakers”? Are promises in certain policy areas more likely to be fulfilled? In what policy areas do parties differ in terms of their positions and issue emphasis? And do parties respond to changes in public opinion?

In this module, we first discuss the main functions of political parties, outline features of representative democracies, and identify ways of measuring public opinion. Next, we assess whether parties keep their promises, whether the “mandate model of democracy” is a desirable and realistic mode of political representation, and how existing studies on election pledge fulfilment can be improved. Afterwards, we investigate parties’ willingness and capacity to respond to changes in public opinion. Fourth, we discuss different approaches of measuring party positions, political ideology, and the salience of policy areas. Based on these methodological approaches, we identify the circumstances under which parties change their positions and issue emphasis. Finally, we briefly discuss alternative types of political participation that go beyond representative government and electoral democracy.