Cooperation & Conflict in Competitive Party Systems

Classification Competitive party systems can be classified by the ___________ of parties as well as by the patterns of ___________ or _____________ among them

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

By Degree of Polarization _________________ Party System – parties commanding most of the legislative seats are not too far apart on policies & have reasonable amount of trust in one anther _________________ Party System – legislature is dominated by parties that are far apart on issues or are antagonistic toward each other _________________ 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 1918-1934 – 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 ________________ among parties is more important Two-party systems are ___________ & _________, but may be dangerous if parties are ________________ Multiparty systems consisting of relatively moderate parties can offer stability, esp. if parties work together in ______________________ Pure multiparty systems without pre-electoral coalitions are prone to ________________________

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