NORDIC PARTY SYSTEMS Nordic five-party model, a significant concept to evaluate and understand the Nordic countries’ political system, has been introduced by Sten Berglund and Ulf Lindström in 1978 in their book "The Scandinavian five party system(s): A comparative study". When it comes to analyze the distinctive features of Scandinavian party systems, five-party model plays an essential role along with strong social democrats, producer interest ties, traditionally strong class voting and well-organized mass parties (lecture, February 11). According to Lipset and Rokkan the emergence of the Nordic party system was realized under the influence of the four historic revolutions: the national revolution, the industrial revolution, the proletarian revolution and the communist revolution (Arter, pp.51-55). Rokkan categorizes national revolution by considering the relationship between church vs. state and center vs. periphery (lecture, February 11). The conflict among state and church derives from getting the control over education; however, the relationship between center and periphery consists of national independence, status of national and linguistic minorities, centralization of power (lecture, February 11). In addition, industrial revolutions shapes Nordic party systems due to the distinctions that it brought as workers vs. owners and urban vs. rural. These relationships have created the basis for the concepts of redistribution, welfare state, public ownership which are essential features of Nordic political model (lecture, February 11). Historically, the emergence of the Nordic party system can be traced back to 1870s characterized by two party politics: liberals vs. conservatives. The two party politics period lasted till 1900 wh... ... middle of paper ... ...ed by the emergence of radical right-wing populist parties whilst parties with a strong environmental appeal and those with a strong moral compass cannot readily be located on a conventional left-right spectrum (University of Oulu, Comparative Nordic Politics). BIBLIOGRAPHY David Arter, Scandinavian Politics Today. Second edition. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2009 Kaare Strøm, Lecture Notes for University of California San Diego, Scandinavian Politics, 2014 Tapio Raunio, Lecture Notes for University of Oulu, Comparative Nordic Politics Tapio Raunio, Euroskepticism – Causes and Consequences, 1-2 July 2005, Amsterdam Berglund, S. & U. Lindström (1978): The Scandinavian Party System(s). Studentlitteratur, Lund Laakso, M. & R. Taagepera (1979): “Effective” Number of Parties: A Measure with Application to West Europe. Comparative Political Studies 12:1, 3-27
The Nordic welfare state is famous around the world and especially social democrats cite Sweden when they try to push a new policy in their own country. It developed during the 20th century and started with ‘folkhemmet’ (the people’s home). A home in a good condition was seen as the basis for the well-being of the people and the state.
Party is an inevitable feature of the democracy and it is defined as ‘an autonomous group of citizens having the purpose of making nominations and contesting elections in the hope of gaining control over governmental power through the capture of public offices and the organization of the government’ (Caramani, 2011, p.220). Parties are ubiquitous in modern political systems and they perform a number of functions, they are: coordination, contesting elections, recruitment, and representation (Caramani, 2011). Political parties are the product of the parliamentary and electoral game, and party systems reflect the social oppositions that characterize society when parties first appear (Coxall et al., 2011).
Based on the foregoing purpose, this paper will present the histories of the beginnings and the endings of Viking civilization in both Iceland and Greenland. Then it will try to find out the reasons for the differences in final results through comparing and contrasting the ways by which Vikings lived their life. These ways are categories into four aspects: politics, economy, culture and diplomacy.
The spread of democracy has been one of the largest and most widely heralded trends in government worldwide – its prevalence and impact has been the subject of much political discussion and debate. In many cases, however, fewer observers focus on the electoral system used by the democratic governments themselves, which are in many cases equally important to the ultimate shape of the government formed. In general, the First Past the Post (FPTP) electoral system that is used in Canadian Federal Elections has excluded and prevented third parties from having a large impact on the national stage post-WWII, forcing a bipartisan system of government. Central to this paper is an analysis on how third parties, in this case minor broad-based parties
Karp, J. A. (2006). Political knowledge about electoral rules: Comparing mixed member proportional systems in Germany and New Zealand. Electoral Studies, 25(4), 714-730.
In Keys paper it shows the changing of coalitions at various times, it is all due to movements of people. A large portion of the Democratic vote at a certain point came from the Industrial towns...
Kruelgor. "Two Party Political System - Recipe for Disaster: Civil Wars throughout History." The Political Machine. 28 Mar. 2008. Web. 18 Aug. 2011. .
Today, political parties can be seen throughout everyday life, prevalent in various activities such as watching television, or seeing signs beside the road while driving. These everyday occurrences make the knowledge of political parties commonly known, especially as the two opposing political parties: the Republicans and the Democrats. Republican and Democrats have existed for numerous years, predominantly due to pure tradition, and the comfort of the ideas each party presents. For years, the existence of two political parties has dominated the elections of the president, and lower offices such as mayor, or the House of Representatives. Fundamentally, this tradition continues from the very emergence of political parties during the election of 1796, principally between Federalist John Adams and Anti-federalist Thomas Jefferson. Prior to this election people unanimously conformed to the ideas of one man, George Washington, and therefore did not require the need for political parties.1 However, following his presidency the public was divided with opposing opinions, each arguing the best methods to regulate the country. Ultimately, the emergence of different opinions regarding the future of the United States involving the economy, foreign relations, ‘the masses,’ and the interpretation of the Constitution, led to the two political parties of the 1790s and the critical election of 1800.
During the second half of the past century the notion that, political science should be treated as a science became extremely popular among academics specially in the United States. One of the most prominent exposers of this school of thought was Anthony Downs, who developed a theorem to explain in a rather economic sense, how and why voters behave in a certain way when it comes to voting. Downs did not only applied his theory to the way voters behave, he also used it to explain the way political parties align themselves when it comes to elections in a two and a multiparty system nevertheless this essay will analyze Downs’ claims about a two party system only. This essay argues that the Downs’ model has proven to be accurate in many cases throughout history, nevertheless it makes a series of assumptions about voters and parties that can not be considered realistic neither in 1957, when he published his paper An Economic Theory of Political Action in Democracy in 1957 nor in 2013. This essay also acknowledges that fact that this theory might help to explain how parties behave but it is by no means the only explanation. Furthermore this essay will prove that it is a multiplicity of factors rather than an economic theory what can help us understand why parties behave the way they do. In order to support the argument previously stated this essay will state and critically analyze a number of Downs assumptions, then his theory will be outlined. Then it will carefully consider how effective it has been at predicting the way in which parties align themselves by examining the behavior of political parties during general elections in different countries.
There are two ways to get rid of the causes of factions, or political parties. The first way of removing these causes is to destroy the liberty essential to their existence. The second way to get rid of the causes is to give everyone the exact same o...
Ungreanu, G. I. 2006. Is There a Democratic Deficit in the European Union? Pro and Contra Arguments. Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai - Studia Europaea, Vol 1, pp. 171-184.
On the United States electoral map, it has always been known that Democratic and Republican political parties stand by their foundational policies and operating principles. The central dogma of the two political parties has strictly been adhered to, with the Democrats regarded as the conservative party while Republicans the liberal party (Kornhauser, 2013). However, an in-depth analysis of the political realignments suggests that a historical reversal role has taken effect as evidenced by the long transition of the parties’ founding principles. The role of the historical reversal system in creating the flips forms the basis of this paper. A retrospective analysis of the parties' foundational policies reveals a firm political ground between the two.
Shapiro, Ian, Rogers M. Smith, and Tarek E. Masoud, eds. Problems and Methods in the Study of Politics. Cambridge ; Cambridge University Press, 2004.
Scholars argue that diverging parties have been one of the driving forces of polarization as policy platforms have ...
Blais, Andre. "Electoral Insight." CCL Web: Criteria for Assessing Electoral Systems (1999): 1-6. Web. 26 Aug. 2010.