Party system closure and openness: conceptualization, operationalization and validation
The degree of closure of the governmental arena is a central aspect of the stabilization of party systems, and yet little systematic effort has been devoted to its operationalization. The article proposes a new index, examines its reliability and validity, and reports the ranking of 60 party systems...
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| Format: | Article |
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SAGE
2016
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35104/ |
| _version_ | 1848795003620425728 |
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| author | Casal Bertoa, Fernando Enyedi, Zsolt |
| author_facet | Casal Bertoa, Fernando Enyedi, Zsolt |
| author_sort | Casal Bertoa, Fernando |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | The degree of closure of the governmental arena is a central aspect of the stabilization of party systems, and yet little systematic effort has been devoted to its operationalization. The article proposes a new index, examines its reliability and validity, and reports the ranking of 60 party systems. By redefining the units of measurement we suggest new indicators that are uniform and transparent in their logic of construction, can be applied both to specific government-changes and to time periods, and are sensitive to the degree of change. The article finds a hierarchy among the components of party system closure, dominated by coalition formula. While new and established democracies can both produced closed patterns, the analysis of inter-war European party systems shows that closed systems are less prone to authoritarian takeover. The article demonstrates the power of inertia: the completely closed configurations stand out as the most durable ones. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:25:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-35104 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:25:11Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publisher | SAGE |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-351042020-05-04T20:02:40Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35104/ Party system closure and openness: conceptualization, operationalization and validation Casal Bertoa, Fernando Enyedi, Zsolt The degree of closure of the governmental arena is a central aspect of the stabilization of party systems, and yet little systematic effort has been devoted to its operationalization. The article proposes a new index, examines its reliability and validity, and reports the ranking of 60 party systems. By redefining the units of measurement we suggest new indicators that are uniform and transparent in their logic of construction, can be applied both to specific government-changes and to time periods, and are sensitive to the degree of change. The article finds a hierarchy among the components of party system closure, dominated by coalition formula. While new and established democracies can both produced closed patterns, the analysis of inter-war European party systems shows that closed systems are less prone to authoritarian takeover. The article demonstrates the power of inertia: the completely closed configurations stand out as the most durable ones. SAGE 2016-05 Article PeerReviewed Casal Bertoa, Fernando and Enyedi, Zsolt (2016) Party system closure and openness: conceptualization, operationalization and validation. Party Politics, 22 (3). pp. 265-277. ISSN 1460-3683 1848-2013 European democracies government formation party system closure structure of competition http://ppq.sagepub.com/content/22/3/265 doi:10.1177/1354068814549340 doi:10.1177/1354068814549340 |
| spellingShingle | 1848-2013 European democracies government formation party system closure structure of competition Casal Bertoa, Fernando Enyedi, Zsolt Party system closure and openness: conceptualization, operationalization and validation |
| title | Party system closure and openness: conceptualization, operationalization and validation |
| title_full | Party system closure and openness: conceptualization, operationalization and validation |
| title_fullStr | Party system closure and openness: conceptualization, operationalization and validation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Party system closure and openness: conceptualization, operationalization and validation |
| title_short | Party system closure and openness: conceptualization, operationalization and validation |
| title_sort | party system closure and openness: conceptualization, operationalization and validation |
| topic | 1848-2013 European democracies government formation party system closure structure of competition |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35104/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35104/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/35104/ |