Partisanship and Party System Institutionalization
Abstract
Party identification, the psychological bond between citizens and a political party, is one of the central variables in understanding political behavior. This article argues that such party ties are also a measure of party system institutionalization from the standpoint of the public. We apply Converse’s model of partisan learning to 36 nations surveyed as part of the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems. We find that electoral experience and parental socialization are strong sources of partisanship, but the third-wave democracies also display evidence of latent socialization carried over from the old regime. The results suggest that party identities can develop in new democracies if the party system creates the conditions to develop these bonds.
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Brazil displays none of the features of highly institutionalized party systems, programmatic patterns of political competition, strong linkages between social groups and political parties, and entrenched and stable partisan identities.
“Like most of Latin American (Kitschelt et al. 2010) and Eastern European (Rose and Mishler 1998) countries, Brazil displays none of the above features.”
From Them’ without ‘us’: Negative identities and affective polarization in Brazil (2022) · cites this paper as Dalton and Weldon 2007
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Cited by
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Political Parties and Uncertainty in Developing Democracies
Lupu, N., & Riedl, R. B. (2013) · Comparative Political Studies · doi:10.1177/0010414012453445 · Cited by 178 · see citing works
Them’ without ‘us’: Negative identities and affective polarization in Brazil
Areal, J. (2022) · Political Research Exchange · doi:10.1080/2474736x.2022.2117635 · Cited by 22 · see citing works
- Authors
- Dalton, R. J., & Weldon, S.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Irvine (US)
- University of South Carolina (US)
- Corresponding author
- Dalton, Russell J.
- Weldon, Steven
- ORCID
- Dalton, Russell J.
- Venue
- Party Politics
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2007-03
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 179-196
- ISSN
- 1354-0688 (ISSN-L)
- 1460-3683
- OpenAlex
- W2077809598
- Cited by
- 264
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 23 · 2023: 12 · 2022: 19 · 2021: 29 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 13 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 10
- FWCI
- 69.99
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Party Politics (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Electoral Systems and Political Participation
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Political Theory and Democracy
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Political Conflict and Governance
- Keywords
- party identification, partisanship, party system institutionalization, Converse, electoral experience, parental socialization, third-wave democracies, new democracies, political socialization
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