The democratisation of party leadership selection: the Portuguese experience

In recent years, members of established political parties have received increased powers to select candidates and leaders. Several explanations have been advanced to account for this trend, focusing on the evolution of the political system, the characteristics of party systems or intra-party dynamics. The aim of this article is to examine the introduction of democratising reforms for leadership selection in Portuguese parties. Despite the high degree of centralisation and the low levels of internal participation, all governing parties have expanded members’ rights during the last decade. The main findings suggest that party leaders have decided to change methods for leadership selection mainly for instrumental purposes in order to consolidate their internal power or gain electoral benefits. Moreover, this organisational transformation has had reduced effects on the internal party functioning. Regardless of these similarities, the data show that there are important differences between parties with regard to levels of participation and internal competition

There is no alternative, or is there? The historic experiment of the left-wing government in Portugal

Following elections in October 2015, António Costa formed a government in Portugal that included the support of some of the country’s radical left parties. Marco Lisi assesses how the government has performed since it took power. He argues that while the government has not achieved everything it set out to do, the successes that have been achieved in office illustrate that radical left and centre-left parties can form an effective alternative to parties on the right of the political spectrum

The first post-crisis elections in Portugal? The implications of the socialist victory in the 2017 local elections

Portugal held local elections on 1 October, which were viewed as a key test for the country's government, led by António Costa. The results saw Costa's Socialist Party (PS) receive the largest vote share, while the opposition PSD experienced a loss of support. Marco Lisi assesses what the outcome means for Portugal moving forward, noting that the results illustrated the the resilience of the Portuguese party system, which has remained largely immune to the emergence of new antiestablishment parties

Intra-party democracy in populist parties

UIDB/04627/2020 UIDP/04627/2020Populist parties are often described as highly centralised and personalistic, with low levels of party institutionalisation. However, there have been few empirical studies to assess the features of decision-making processes within this party family. This study aims to address this gap by examining the extent to which the internal distribution of power varies within populist parties. The Political Party Database is used to systematically compare Eastern and Western European parties in terms of intra-party democracy and the powers given to party leaders. The results suggest that although populist parties differ from non-populist parties in that they grant more power to their leaders, they are less likely to rely on plebiscitary and deliberative decision-making processes. In addition, the findings reveal that while the degree of leadership centralisation and plebiscitary decision making varies by region and ideological background, there are no differences between older and new populist parties.publishersversionepub_ahead_of_prin

Conceptualising and Measuring Leadership Autonomy in Contemporary Party Organisations

UIDB/04627/2020 UIDP/04627/2020 PTDC/IVC-CPO/1864/2014 PTDC/CPO-CPO/30296/2017At a time when party politics is becoming increasingly personalised, conventional wisdom argues that the party leaders’ power in organisations is on the rise. However, scholarship has not yet provided a thorough and systematic analysis of the role of party leaders that offers theoretical and empirical specification. The aim of this article is to provide an analytical framework for the study of party leadership by examining the concept of leadership autonomy and its components. This new conceptualisation is then applied to a number of different parties across Western Europe, showing how leadership autonomy varies across countries and different party organisations. The conclusion sets out the implications for party change and highlights the importance of placing the leaders’ role at the centre of the empirical analysis of political parties.publishersversionepub_ahead_of_prin

A Citizen Perspective

UIDB/04627/2020 UIDP/04627/2020 PTDC/CPO-CPO/30296/2017This article aims to examine how citizens evaluate the contribution of interest groups to the functioning of representative democracies, focusing on several dimensions related to political representation and democratic governance. Drawing on an original online survey conducted to a representative sample of the population in Portugal, we investigate the correlates of citizens’ perceptions regarding interest groups, in particular the impact of individual-level factors related to political involvement, partisanship, party closeness and ideology. We find that associational membership and partisan identities positively impact citizens’ views, while higher levels of (perceived) proximity between political parties and groups increasenegative perceptions. Moreover, people displaying greater trust in interest groups are more likely to hold positive views of organised interests. Overall, political features shape citizens’ attitudes towards groups to a great extent, as people anchored to the political system are more prone to support the institutional role of organised interests and to evaluate their contribution to the functioning of democracies more positively.publishersversionepub_ahead_of_prin

The debate about electronic voting in Portugal and its implementation before and after the pandemic era

UIDB/04627/2020 UIDP/04627/2020 PTDC/CPO-CPO/30296/2017The use of electronic voting has been considered an important tool to improve electoral processes in some circumstances, with potential effects in party-voter linkages and participation. However, many countries are skeptical in adopting this digital tool and there are relevant shortcomings in the implementation of electronic voting. Despite favorable conditions for the innovation in voting mechanisms, Portugal is one of the countries still considering the possibility to introduce e-voting. This study argues that we need to consider not only the context in which e-voting takes place, but also the key role of party agents. Drawing on interviews with party officials and experts, primary data collection and media sources, this paper shows that in Portugal e-voting is not regarded as a potential tool to improve the electoral process due to the high level of trust and quality of traditional voting mechanisms, as well as due to the divergent interest of political parties. In addition, party organizations are not familiar with the use of digital tools in terms of grassroot mobilization. Overall, the findings indicate that party barriers are also key for allowing the (non)adoption of e-voting.publishersversionpublishe

Untangling the Links between Ideology and Euroscepticism!

UID/CPO/04627/2013 PTDC/IVC-CPO/1864/2014.The paper examines the relationship between Euroscepticism and ideology in Western European countries and focuses on how this relationship is mediated by party system characteristics and partisanship. Additionally, we explore some distinctive national patterns in the relationship between Euroscepticism and ideology by focusing on four South European countries (Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Greece), which despite their similar historical and social trajectories, as well as common experiences during the euro crisis in relation to the other Western European nations, they deviate in different ways from the European-wide pattern of interaction between ideology and Euroscepticism. Using data from the European Election Study of 2014 and the Chapel Hill Expert Survey, we show that the relationship between ideology and Euroscepticism can be heavily influenced by characteristics at the level of the party system, such as degree of party system polarization and the levels of supply of left-wing and right-wing Euroscepticism, as well as individual party legacies that can filter the ideology-Euroscepticism relationship through the influence of partisanship. Our findings highlight the importance of parties and party leadership in the future development of Euroscepticism within European polities as evidenced by the distinct national trajectories of Euroscepticism. Political entrepreneurs have the power to directly or indirectly politicize the issue of Europe and to help determine the overall level of Euroscepticism within a specific polity by providing cues to the electorate and mainly to their core partisans.publishersversionpublishe

Campaign individualisation before and after the Bailout: A Comparison between Greece and Portugal

The elections that took place in Greece and Portugal before and after the intervention of the so-called Troika allow us to examine to what extent the austerity period has affected the nature and style of electoral campaigns, especially in terms of individualisation. Our results show that campaigns in Greece and Portugal were quite different and that Greek candidates supported by the two main parties are more likely to emphasise their role. Yet the short-term impact of the crisis has been negligible, as there have been insignificant shifts in the communicative focus on the personalisation of the agendas and on the means used in the campaign after the intervention of the Troika

Differential factors of abstentionists and populist voters in Portugal

UIDB/04627/2020 UIDP/04627/2020This paper examines the relationship between the rise of populist support and increasing rates of abstention in European democracies. Empirical studies have shown that populist parties are gaining traction among voters, while abstention rates are also on the rise, particularly among “temporary” abstentionists who refrain from voting due to situational factors. We delve into this matter by utilising an original survey on a representative sample of the Portuguese population conducted in 2020. The findings suggest that there are similarities between voting for populist radical right parties and abstention, particularly in terms of “protest” attitudes, which set them apart from supporters of non-populist parties. Additionally, the study indicates that both phenomena are influenced by short-term factors related to the supply side of politics. However, abstentionists are more likely to belong to lower socio-economic strata and exhibit lower levels of political interest.publishersversionpublishe