Cooperation & Conflict in Competitive Party Systems

Classification Competitive party systems can be classified by the number of parties as well as by the patterns of competition or cooperation among them

Types of Competitive Party Systems Majoritarian Two-Party Systems – dominated by two parties or have two dominant parties & Election laws that usually create legislative majorities for one of them Majority-Coalition Systems – parties establish pre-electoral coalitions so voters know which parties will work together to form a government Multiparty Systems – election laws & party systems almost ensure no single party wins a legislative majority and no tradition of pre- election coalitions

By Degree of Polarization Consensual Party System – parties commanding most of the legislative seats are not too far apart on policies & have reasonable amount of trust in one anther Conflictual Party System – legislature is dominated by parties that are far apart on issues or are antagonistic toward each other Consociational System– political leaders are able to bridge intense differences between antagonistic voters through power-sharing, broad coalitions, and decentralization – Example: After WWII, Austria used consociational understanding that made stable government possible between socialists and Catholics

Consensual and Conflictual System Examples Consensual Majoritarian Party Systems – United States – Great Britain – (Third parties do exist, but do not really get much representation or power in government) Conflictual majoritarian Party System – Austria – produced brief civil war between Socialists & others! Consensual Multiparty Systems – Norway & Sweden Conflictual Multiparty Systems – France post-WWII – Weimar Germany – Powerful communist parties on the left & conservative parties on the right

Consequences Although the number of parties affects political stability, the degree of antagonism among parties is more important Two-party systems are stable & effective, but may be dangerous if parties are deeply divided Multiparty systems consisting of relatively moderate parties can offer stability, esp. if parties work together in pre-electoral coalitions Pure multiparty systems without pre-electoral coalitions are prone to ineffectiveness

Activity: Designing a Democracy Work in a small group to decide what features your ideal democracy would have Create a poster advertising your democracy to attract people to live there