Politics at the Centre: The Selection and Removal of Party Leaders in the Anglo Parliamentary Democracies PDF
Preview Politics at the Centre: The Selection and Removal of Party Leaders in the Anglo Parliamentary Democracies
POLITICS AT THE CENTRE COMPARATIVE POLITICS ComparativePoliticsisaseriesforstudents,teachers,andresearchersofpoliticalsciencethatdeals withcontemporarygovernmentandpolitics.Globalinscope,booksintheseriesarecharacterisedby astressoncomparativeanalysisandstrongmethodologicalrigour.Theseriesispublished inassociationwiththeEuropeanConsortiumforPoliticalResearch.Formoreinformationvisit www.ecprnet.eu TheComparativePoliticsseriesiseditedbyProfessorDavidM.Farrell,SchoolofPolitics andInternationalRelations,UniversityCollegeDublin,KennethCarty,ProfessorofPoliticalScience, UniversityofBritishColumbia,andProfessorDirkBerg-Schlosser.InstituteofPoliticalScience, PhilippsUniversity,Marburg. OTHERTITLES IN THIS SERIES ElectoralMalpractice SarahBirch Semi-Presidentialism Sub-TypesandDemocraticPerformance RobertElgie ParliamentsandCoalitions TheRoleofLegislativeInstitutionsinMultipartyGovernance LannyW.MartinandGeorgVanberg WhenCitizensDecide LessonsfromCitizenAssembliesonElectoralReform PatrickFournier,HenkvanderKolk,R.KennethCarty, AndréBlais,andJonathanRose PlatformorPersonality? TheRoleofPartyLeadersinElections AmandaBittner PoliticalLeadersandDemocraticElections EditedbyKeesAarts,AndréBlais,andHermannSchmitt ThePoliticsofPartyFunding StateFundingtoPoliticalPartiesandPartyCompetitioninWesternEurope MichaelKoß DesigningDemocracyinaDangerousWorld AndrewReynolds CabinetsandCoalitionBargaining TheDemocraticLifeCycleinWesternEurope EditedbyKaareStr(cid:2)m,WolfgangC.Müller,andTorbjörnBergman DemocracywithinParties CandidateSelectionMethodsandTheirPoliticalConsequences ReuvenY.HazanandGideonRahat LinkingCitizensandParties HowElectoralSystemsMatterforPoliticalRepresentation LawrenceEzrow PartyPoliticsinNewDemocracies EditedbyPaulWebbandStephenWhite Politics at the Centre: The Selection and Removal of Party Leaders in the Anglo Parliamentary Democracies WILLIAM P. CROSS ANDRÉ BLAIS 1 3 GreatClarendonStreet,OxfordOX26DP OxfordUniversityPressisadepartmentoftheUniversityofOxford. ItfurtherstheUniversity’sobjectiveofexcellenceinresearch,scholarship, andeducationbypublishingworldwidein Oxford NewYork Auckland CapeTown DaresSalaam HongKong Karachi KualaLumpur Madrid Melbourne MexicoCity Nairobi NewDelhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto Withofficesin Argentina Austria Brazil Chile CzechRepublic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore SouthKorea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam OxfordisaregisteredtrademarkofOxfordUniversityPress intheUKandincertainothercountries PublishedintheUnitedStates byOxfordUniversityPressInc.,NewYork #WilliamP.CrossandAndréBlais,2012 Themoralrightsoftheauthorhavebeenasserted DatabaserightOxfordUniversityPress(maker) Firstpublished2012 Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced, storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans, withoutthepriorpermissioninwritingofOxfordUniversityPress, orasexpresslypermittedbylaw,orundertermsagreedwiththeappropriate reprographicsrightsorganization.Enquiriesconcerningreproduction outsidethescopeoftheaboveshouldbesenttotheRightsDepartment, OxfordUniversityPress,attheaddressabove Youmustnotcirculatethisbookinanyotherbindingorcover andyoumustimposethesameconditiononanyacquirer BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData Dataavailable LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2011944151 TypesetbySPIPublisherServices,Pondicherry,India PrintedinGreatBritain onacid-freepaperby MPGBooksGroup,BodminandKing’sLynn ISBN 978–0–19–959672–0 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 Contents Acknowledgements vi ListofTables vii 1. WhyStudyPartyLeadershipSelection? 1 2. WhoPicksthePartyLeader? 14 3. ExplainingChangeinLeadershipSelectorates 34 4. RulesoftheGame 60 5. Retirements,Resignations,andRemovals 87 6. Running,GettingElected,andStayinginOffice 113 7. Organizing,Strategizing,andVotinginLeadershipElections 128 8. LeadershipSelectioninNon-WestminsterDemocracies 156 9. HowShouldweChoosePartyLeaders? 168 Appendix 182 Bibliography 191 Index 207 Acknowledgements A project involving field work and data collection in six countries on opposite sides of the globe leaves us in debt to a great number of individuals. Most importantly, we were fortunate to benefit from the assistance of many elected andpartyofficials.Theseindividualsunfailinglyagreedtomeetwithus,toexplain their party’s approach to leadership politics, and to provide us with party docu- mentation.Withouttheirassistancethisprojectcouldnothavebeencompleted. Many colleagues in each country have also provided assistance. While we cannotnamethemall,weareparticularlygratefultoElizabethMcLeay,Raymond Miller,Michael Gallagher, MichaelMarsh, Thomas Quinn, Meg Russell,Pault’ Hart,IanMcAllister,andJean-BenoitPilet. Two of the editors of this series, David Farrell and R. Kenneth Carty, have provided sound counsel and advice from the time we conceived of this project through to its completion. Colleagues at conferences of the UK Political Studies Association, International Political Science Association, Canadian Political Sci- ence Association, the Elections, Public Opinion and Political Parties Specialist Group, and the European Consortium for Political Research all provided helpful commentsandsuggestionsalongtheway. ResearchofthissortisexpensiveandweweregenerouslyfundedbyaStandard Research Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.Wehopetheyfindthisvolumegoodvaluefortheirmoney. Wearebothfortunatetobesurroundedbytalentedgraduatestudentsandpost- doctoral fellows, many of whom assisted with this research. We thank John Crysler, Christel Hyshka, Delia Dumitrescu, Patrick Lemieux, Martin Croteau, Silvina Danesi, Adrien Zakhartchouk, and Joanna Sweet for all their work in helpingusferretoutdetailsandbuildourdataset.WearealsogratefultoLillian Ashworthforconstructingtheindextothisvolume. OurcolleaguesintheDepartmentsofPoliticalScienceatCarletonUniversityin OttawaandtheUniversitédeMontréalhavelistenedtoustalkaboutthisresearch for several years, and have regularly offered their encouragement. We are fortu- natetoworkindepartmentswithsuchtalentedandsupportivecolleagues. Finally,aswithalllargeresearchprojects,wehaveoftenbeendistractedfrom otherpartsoflifeandwethankourfamiliesfortheirunderstandingandsupportof thisenterprise. WilliamP.Cross The Hon. Dick and Ruth Bell Chair for the Study of Canadian Parliamentary Democracy CarletonUniversity,Ottawa AndréBlais CanadaResearchChairinElectoralStudies UniversitédeMontréal List of Tables Table2.1 Groupswithavoteintheselectionofpartyleader(asof 1January2008) 18 Table3.1 Authorityofrank-and-filemembersinpartyleadership selection(1965and2008) 35 Table3.2 Relativeinfluenceofgrassrootsmembersinpartyleadership selection 36 Table3.3 Statusofpartiesatthetimeofincreasingtherelative influenceofpartymembersinleadershipselection: UnitedKingdom,Ireland,andCanada(1965–2009) 41 Table4.1 Electoralsystemusedforleadershipelections (1965and2009) 68 Table4.2 Voteweightinginelectoralcolleges(2008) 74 Table5.1 Lengthoftenureofpartyleadersbycountry (1965–2008) 91 Table5.2 Leadersleavingofficebetween1965and2008without wagingasingleelectioncampaignasleader 92 Table5.3 Lengthofleaders’tenure(inmonths)forthoseleaving officebetweenJanuary1965andJanuary2008 92 Table5.4 Lengthofleaders’tenureforthosedepartingbetween January1965andDecember1985andthosedeparting betweenJanuary1986andJanuary2008 94 Table5.5 Partieswith‘fixed’termsforleaders 95 Table5.6 Reasonsforleaders’departure(January 1965–January2008) 97 Table5.7 ReasonsforPrimeMinisters’departure (January1965–January2008) 98 Table5.8 Partygroupthathastheauthoritytoremovetheleader (January2008) 105 Table6.1 Competitivenessacrosscountriesandovertime 114 Table6.2 Competitivenessandrules 115 Table6.3 Thedeterminantsofcompetiveness 117 Table6.4 Characteristicsofnewlyelectedleaders (January1965–January2008) 119 Table6.5 Theageofnewleaders 120 viii ListofTables Table6.6 Theexperienceofnewleaders 121 Table6.7 Listoffemaleleaders(through1January2008) 122 Table6.8 Thegenderofnewleaders 122 Table6.9 Survivalanalysis:partyandleadercharacteristics 124 Table6.10 Survivalanalysis:theimpactofselectionand removalrules 125 CHAPTER 1 Why Study Party Leadership Selection? This is a study of the politics of party leadership selection. Leaders of political parties are the central political figures in contemporary parliamentary democra- cies.Wecometothisconclusionbyvirtueoftheobservationsthatpartiesoperate at the centre of our politics and that their leaders exercise considerable authority overbothpartyandgovernmentalactivity.Throughanexaminationofhowparties selectandremovetheirleaders,weshedlightonacrucialareaofdemocraticlife thatisoftenshroudedbytheveilofintra-partypolitics.Studyingtheselectionand removalofpartyleadersiswarrantedbothbytheimportantrolepartyleadersplay inourdemocraciesandbecauseitaddressesquestionsrelatingtothelocationand organizationofpowerinpoliticalparties. It has long been argued that political parties, at least in established Western democracies,aretheleadingactorsinelectioncampaignsandthatkeydemocratic institutions, such as parliaments and governments, are organized by, and structured around, parties. Through provisions such as state subventions, ballot access,andaccess tothebroadcastmedia,partiesoftenareawarded aprivileged place in election campaigns. These campaigns are most typically a contest be- tween competing teams of candidates representing the political parties. Voter choice is structured by attitudes towards the parties, their leaders, and the policy positions they stake out (Miller and Shanks, 1996: 148). Citizens view election campaigns largely through the prism of political parties, their vote choice is a responsetotheparties’campaigns,andiftheychoosetoparticipatebeyondmere votingapoliticalpartyisoftenthevehicleforthatparticipation. Parties maintain their importance between election campaigns through their dominanceofkeydemocraticinstitutions.Bothparliamentsandgovernmentsare organizedalongpartylines(Heffernan,2003;CowleyandStuart,2003;Docherty, 2005; White, 2005). Elected members representing the government party sit on one side of the legislature and are held to account by the elected representatives fromtheoppositionparties.Membersofthecabinetallcomefromthegoverning politicalparty,orgroupofpartiesgoverningincoalition,aspartyaffiliationmarks thedistinctionbetweengovernmentandopposition.Theprincipalparties’chosen leadersfilltheparliamentaryrolesofPrimeMinisterandLeaderoftheOpposition. Theseleadersplayacentralroleinoverseeingtheirparties’policyformationand indeterminingwhichpositionsareadvancedinthelegislature.Givenallofthis,it isnotsurprisingthatleadingstudentsofmoderndemocraticpracticehaveargued
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