Electoral Defeat and Party Change: When do Parties Adapt?


Abstract

Electoral defeat has sometimes been called the mother of party change, but is this reputation warranted? In this paper we investigate whether party characteristics such as government status, party systemic origins, or ideological family affect how parties respond to defeat. Examining 73 parties in 28 countries, considering party efforts to change their leadership, their programs and their organizations, we conclude that only systemic origin (post-communist vs. West European countries) is a relevant factor affecting depth of party change. Parties take some corrective actions after electoral defeat, however, they are not likely to be a wholesale reforms. Thus, it would be more accurate to describe electoral defeat as a midwife of a party change, not as its mother.


Keywords

electoral defeat; political parties; party change; Europe

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Published : 2020-12-10


PacześniakA., Bachryj-KrzywaźniaM., & KaczorowskaM. (2020). Electoral Defeat and Party Change: When do Parties Adapt?. Political Preferences, (27), 63-78. https://doi.org/10.31261/polpre.2020.27.63-78

Anna Pacześniak  anna_paczesniak@wp.pl
University of Wroclaw  Poland
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4782-4432
Maciej Bachryj-Krzywaźnia 
University of Wroclaw  Poland
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8072-9488
Małgorzata Kaczorowska 
University of Warsaw  Poland
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2803-9946




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