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Bicameralism, intra-party bargaining, and the formation of party policy positions : Evidence from the German federal system

Bäck, Hanna LU orcid ; Debus, Marc and Klüver, Heike (2016) In Party Politics 22(3). p.405-417
Abstract

How do political parties arrive at their policy positions? We conceptualize position formation in federalist countries as an intra-party bargaining process in which subnational parties compete with each other in an attempt to get their own positions into their national party manifesto. Drawing on theories about inter-party bargaining over ministerial portfolios, we hypothesize that the bargaining success of subnational parties depends on their parliamentary strength. We evaluate our hypotheses based on a comprehensive dataset on policy positions of national and subnational parties in Germany from 1990 until 2009. Our results show that German subnational parties that are powerful in the second parliamentary chamber (Bundesrat) are... (More)

How do political parties arrive at their policy positions? We conceptualize position formation in federalist countries as an intra-party bargaining process in which subnational parties compete with each other in an attempt to get their own positions into their national party manifesto. Drawing on theories about inter-party bargaining over ministerial portfolios, we hypothesize that the bargaining success of subnational parties depends on their parliamentary strength. We evaluate our hypotheses based on a comprehensive dataset on policy positions of national and subnational parties in Germany from 1990 until 2009. Our results show that German subnational parties that are powerful in the second parliamentary chamber (Bundesrat) are particularly successful in shaping the manifesto of their national party. The findings have important implications for our understanding of intra-party politics and position formation within political parties in Germany more specifically and federalist countries more generally.

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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
bicameralism, election manifestos, federal systems, Germany, intra-party bargaining, policy positions, political parties
in
Party Politics
volume
22
issue
3
pages
13 pages
publisher
SAGE Publications
external identifiers
  • scopus:84966783979
  • wos:000375598200012
ISSN
1460-3683
DOI
10.1177/1354068814549343
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
449b0f7a-a621-46b6-a6ac-a5dd1309a4ea (old id 4354877)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:02:49
date last changed
2024-01-06 06:24:44
@article{449b0f7a-a621-46b6-a6ac-a5dd1309a4ea,
  abstract     = {{<p>How do political parties arrive at their policy positions? We conceptualize position formation in federalist countries as an intra-party bargaining process in which subnational parties compete with each other in an attempt to get their own positions into their national party manifesto. Drawing on theories about inter-party bargaining over ministerial portfolios, we hypothesize that the bargaining success of subnational parties depends on their parliamentary strength. We evaluate our hypotheses based on a comprehensive dataset on policy positions of national and subnational parties in Germany from 1990 until 2009. Our results show that German subnational parties that are powerful in the second parliamentary chamber (Bundesrat) are particularly successful in shaping the manifesto of their national party. The findings have important implications for our understanding of intra-party politics and position formation within political parties in Germany more specifically and federalist countries more generally.</p>}},
  author       = {{Bäck, Hanna and Debus, Marc and Klüver, Heike}},
  issn         = {{1460-3683}},
  keywords     = {{bicameralism; election manifestos; federal systems; Germany; intra-party bargaining; policy positions; political parties}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{405--417}},
  publisher    = {{SAGE Publications}},
  series       = {{Party Politics}},
  title        = {{Bicameralism, intra-party bargaining, and the formation of party policy positions : Evidence from the German federal system}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1354068814549343}},
  doi          = {{10.1177/1354068814549343}},
  volume       = {{22}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}