How do political parties respond to heavy electoral defeat, and why do different parties respond in different ways? This question has become all the more relevant now that it seems more the... Show moreHow do political parties respond to heavy electoral defeat, and why do different parties respond in different ways? This question has become all the more relevant now that it seems more the rule than the exception for at least one party to lose heavily at any election. This dissertation aims to build a new model to explain the choices made by parties in response to heavy electoral defeat. Studying four cases in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, it reaches a number of new insights on party change. It turns out that parties under pressure are not just in a struggle for power or in a question for their primary goals, but also in a continuous conversation with the party’s own past. The degree of attachment to the electoral base and the party ideology have a significant impact on the preferences of parties for dealing with a heavy electoral defeat. These factors are, at the same time, sometimes overtaken by the realities of the electoral system in which parties operate. With these insights, this book takes the first step towards building a new model to understand an increasingly important phenomenon in party systems subjected to partisan dealignment and electoral volatility. Show less
Why are small states statistically more likely to have democratic systems of government? By addressing this question from a qualitative, comparative methodological angle, this book analyzes the... Show moreWhy are small states statistically more likely to have democratic systems of government? By addressing this question from a qualitative, comparative methodological angle, this book analyzes the effects of a limited population size on politics and democracy. In line with the criteria of the most different systems design, the four microstates of San Marino, St. Kitts and Nevis, Seychelles, and Palau are compared on the basis of interviews with respondents from various societal and institutional backgrounds. The findings of this study indicate that in spite of their many other differences, politics and democracy in the four analyzed microstates is of a remarkably similar nature. Whereas a small population size may in some respects contribute to the quality of democracy, it also creates a number of political dynamics that undermine the functioning of democratic government Show less
