The master thesis "Development of the Czech party system between 2010-2013" focuses on an analysis of the state of the Czech party system with an emphasis on political developments over the past few years as well as the last two Czech Parliamentary elections in 2010 and 2013. The results of the elections deviate from the long term developments in the country since the 1990s and the fall of the communist regime. The goal of this work is to define phases which capture the essential developments of the Czech party system and what trends it currently demonstrates using quantitative methods which will help us to calculate things such as the index of the effective number of parties in the party system. The main question that this work will try to answer is whether or not we can consider the Czech party system to be consolidated.

本文討論焦點在於台灣政黨體系的變遷過程，影響台灣政黨體系變遷的因素，以及台灣政黨體系未來的可能走向。分別使用社會分歧理論、政治菁英理論以及制度論來解釋台灣政黨體系的變遷過程，並由各政黨在選舉結果的消長與選民政黨認同的變化兩個指標來觀察我國政黨體系的變遷。試圖建構一個通用的模式來解釋我國政黨體系發展的過程，以預期台灣政黨體系發展的未來走向。 經過全面觀察各政黨選舉結果的消長，以及選民政黨認同的變動情形之後，本文發現台灣政黨體系的變遷，主要發生在四個重要的時間點，第一個時間點是1986年民進黨的成立，第二個時間點是1993年新黨的成立，第三個時間點是2000年親民黨的成立與2001年台聯的成立，第四個時間點則是立委選制改變後的2008年立委選舉。 在變動的因素方面，雖然每一個變遷的時間點都有新政黨的出現，但是民進黨的出現是整個憲政環境由威權時期轉成民主化的結果，而新黨、親民黨與台聯則都是政治菁英之間的分裂。2008年主要是選舉制度的影響，不但新成立的政黨無法生存，連原有的小黨也都消失無蹤。 在穩定不變的因素方面，在台灣的政黨體系整個變遷的過程裡面，藍綠的區分一直都存在著。在藍綠對抗的主軸之下，台灣的政黨體系受到省籍、統獨立場以及國家認同等因素混合在內的分歧結構的長期影響，泛綠基本上掌握三成左右的基本盤，泛藍則是有四成出頭的支持度，中間還有二成多搖擺不定的部分，這個部分就是藍綠角逐的關鍵所在。這個藍綠對抗中第一個最重要的因素就是混雜了統獨立場、國家認同與省籍在內的社會與議題分歧，其次是政治菁英在歷次選舉過程中不斷地去操作這個分歧結構，藉此找到新政黨在意識型態光譜上的定位點，再加上SNTV選制容許小黨有生存空間，因此台灣的政黨體系隨之產生變遷。最後到了2008年，選舉制度的變革發揮了決定性的影響，使得我國的政黨體系確立為兩黨制。 在未來的發展趨勢上，研究發現，無論就政黨得票率、政黨支持度以及選舉制度的層面來看，國民黨似乎已經逐漸取回過半的優勢，民進黨則回到四成左右的基本盤。在沒有新議題或是新的政治社會分歧足以重新切割現有政黨體系之下，在目前雙首長制的憲政架構以及單一選區兩票制的國會選舉制度之下，我們預期政治菁英們的互動將朝向由國民黨代表泛藍勢力，民進黨代表泛綠勢力的兩黨政治體系逐步鞏固的方向前進。 / The main theme of this thesis focuses on the changing process of Taiwan’s party system, the factors which effecting the changing process of Taiwan’s party system, and the trend of Taiwan’s party system in the future. The author use social cleavage theory、political elite theory and institutional theory to explain the changing process of Taiwan’s party system. The author also uses two indexes including the vote-share of each party in every election, and the changing of voter’s party identification to observe the changing of Taiwan’s party system. This thesis tries to build a general model to explain the developing process of Taiwan’s party system and predict the future trend of Taiwan’s party system. After observing the election outcomes of each party and the changing of voter’s party identification, this thesis points out four important time points of Taiwan’s party system changing. The first time point is the presence of DPP in 1986, the second time point is the presence of NP in 1993, the third time point is the presence of PFP in 2000 and the presence of TSU in 2001, the fourth time point is the changing of electoral rule of legislative election in 2008. About the changing factor, in spite of the new party presence in each changing time point, the presence of DPP is due to the constitutional environment which the authoritarian regime transferred into democracy. The presence of NP、PFP and TSU are the outcome of the separation of political elites. The changing of party system in 2008 is mainly effected by electoral system, not only the new parties can’t survive, but the existing small parties also disappear. About the stable factor, during the changing process of Taiwan’s party system, there’s always a clearly distinction between “blue” and ”green”. Underneath the main stream of the confrontation between “blue” and “green”, Taiwan’s party system has long been effected by the cleavage structure which mixed with ethnic origin、unification or independent with china and national identity. The pan-green group basically maintains about 30% of vote share, the pan-blue group has more than 40% of vote share, the remaining 20% more of vote share is the key point for the struggle of pan-green and pan-blue forces. The most important factor in this confrontation process is the social and issue cleavage mixed with ethnic origin、unification or independent with china and national identity. Meanwhile the political elites are consequently manipulating the cleavage structure in every election process, in order to find some spaces in the ideological spectrum to form new parties. In addition to the SNTV electoral system allows small parties to appear and survive. That’s the reason why Taiwan’s party system changes over time. But in 2008, the changing of electoral system has the decisive influence and turn Taiwan’s party system into the two-party system. In the trend of future development, the research shows that, no matter in party’s vote share、party support rate or electoral system, KMT seems gradually having a leading advantage to get more than 50% of vote share. DPP has about 40% of vote share. If no more new issue or political-social cleavages to cut the existing party system, in the two-head executive constitutional structure and MMM electoral system, the interactions of political elites will tend to a consolidation of the two-party system which including a pan-blue force presented by KMT, and a pan-green force presented by DPP.

This thesis examines the impact of one party dominant systems on liberal democracy in developing countries. It is insufficient to argue that one party dominant systems – systems where one party dominates over a prolonged period - need not be further scrutinised because they occur within democracies. Instead it is contended that the term ‘democracy’ is but one public virtue in a political system and thus needs to be prefixed for it to have meaning beyond a method of government selection. The importance of this is highlighted when looking at two major trends in the understanding of democracy. The first is democracy as rule by the people -a non-authoritarian democracy- where governmental control is limited, and agents of voice and accountability are protected. Voice and accountability refers to citizens being able to exercise power over the process of decision-making and not merely power to select decision-makers. The second type of democracy is rule for the people -an authoritarian democracy- where governmental control extends over all spheres of society, and the operating space for agents of voice and accountability is constrained. Since unchecked centralisation is the anti-thesis of a non-authoritarian democracy, the observed tendency of dominant parties to use their predominant position to further consolidate their control is a concern. The apprehension is, as power is centralised so the operating space of agents of voice and accountability (including political and civil society) is constrained. Despite differences in the type of one party dominant system, whether they be hegemonic (Mexico) or dominant (South Africa) the ruling dominant/ hegemonic party uses similar methods of consolidating dominance – they essentially centralise power through the establishment of (1) economic, (2) political, and sometimes (3) ideological monopolies. These monopolies are established using internal and external methods of control (centralising of political power; party controlled process of political leadership selection; institutional arrangements and electoral amendments, which favour the ruling party; patronage and corporatism), which in turn effectively close down or limit the operating space of civil and political society, especially in developing countries which do not have histories of liberal-constitutionalism, and have vast socio-economic inequalities making them especially susceptible to the manipulation of ruling elites. Although one party dominant systems may initially have a uniting, stabilising effect, if continued they tend to lead towards either the entrenchment of authoritarianism or the establishment of authoritarianism, since dominance is achieved at the expense of competition, and independent and alternative voices. Uncompetitive democracies result in unresponsive governments. Pursuing a liberal democracy, while simultaneously monopolising power is to indulge in serious programmatic contradictions. Eventually something has to give and it is usually liberal democracy. Voice and accountability inevitably become inhibited in one party dominant systems due to the mechanisms of internal and external control used by the dominant or hegemonic party. These mechanisms of control culminate in, as they did in Mexico, there being ‘no life outside the ruling party’. Only when the economic, political and ideological monopolies are dismantled through either economic liberalisation, opposition maintaining its integrity, civil society keeping its independence and societies refusing to be drawn into relationships of patronage, can the space for voice and accountability be prised open again. In the interests of its citizens and the future success of its country, the ruling party of a one party dominant system needs to recognise that it is not the sole channel for the voice of its citizens and to acknowledge the space for agents of voice and accountability. Ensuring that non-authoritarian democracy remains the only game in town in a one party dominant system requires responsive and accountable government and effective agents of voice and accountability. / Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Political Sciences / unrestricted

The topic of my study is presidential system. I have chosen this topic because I am interested in situation of Latin America countries. These countries have decided to follow establishment of The United States. Many authors affirm that presidentialism is occasion of instability in these countries. The thesis is composed of ten chapters, which are divided into subsection or other parts. At the beginning I introduce political systems in our society. And I chose one of them, presidential system, to analyze in details. Chapter Two is about history of creation Constitution of The United States. This part of history is important because this Constitution is model for countries, which have decided for presidentialism. In this stage I explain the term presidential system and its particular signs. Without knowledge about it we don't understand how this system function. And we can't confront it with other political systems. Chapter Three describes presidentialism and its different forms. In my work I describe presidentialism in Latin America and in The United States. In Europe, there are many countries, which after year 1991 have decided for presidentionalism. But there always are relics of communism. There absent elements of democracy. In some of this countries govern strong presidents and we mark them like...

Submitted by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2016-03-17T11:10:29Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Andréia Bahia e Silva - 2015.pdf: 1298595 bytes, checksum: cd1f05dd53828233d9734d342ed49f72 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2016-03-17T11:12:39Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Andréia Bahia e Silva - 2015.pdf: 1298595 bytes, checksum: cd1f05dd53828233d9734d342ed49f72 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-17T11:12:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Andréia Bahia e Silva - 2015.pdf: 1298595 bytes, checksum: cd1f05dd53828233d9734d342ed49f72 (MD5) license_rdf: 23148 bytes, checksum: 9da0b6dfac957114c6a7714714b86306 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-03-30 / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Goiás - FAPEG / The research aims to investigate the different incentives that explain the existence of so-called small parties in Brazil. These subtitles do not have the same incentives that the major parties, since they can not get the electoral gains that allow them to seize power central goal of all party acronym. However, have always been present in the Brazilian party system. The research part of the party context in which small parties arise and act - the fragmented party system - search the elements that enable its creation and existence, the electoral legislation and institutional incentives they receive, as party fund and free time propaganda. The gains that small parties do and justify their existence are observed by analyzing the trajectory of the Social Christian Party (PSC) in Goiás. The survey has a time frame 1982-2014. / A pesquisa tem por objetivo investigar os diferentes incentivos que explicam a existência dos chamados pequenos partidos políticos no Brasil. Essas legendas não têm os mesmo estímulos que os grandes partidos, uma vez que não conseguem obter os ganhos eleitorais que possibilitem a elas conquistar o poder, objetivo central de toda sigla partidária. Todavia, sempre estiveram presentes no sistema partidário brasileiro. A pesquisa parte do contexto partidário, no qual os pequenos partidos surgem e atuam – o sistema partidário fragmentado –, busca os elementos que possibilitam a sua criação e existência, a legislação eleitoral e os incentivos institucionais que recebem, como Fundo Partidário e tempo gratuito de propaganda. Os ganhos que os pequenos partidos obtêm e que justificam suas existências são observados por meio da análise da trajetória do Partido Social Cristão (PSC) em Goiás. A pesquisa tem um recorte temporal de 1982 a 2014.

This thesis is a qualitative study based on interviews conducted in early 2007 and aims at getting an understanding of the political environment from an opposition party’s point of view in Northern Sudan. The study is also trying to illustrate how good governance and democracy are building on each other and that good governance is a pre-requisite for democracy. In this perspective Sudan has a long way to go. The main assumption is that women are key to good governance and internal democracy and a democratic society. If the party excludes women, it can not be representative, participatory or equitable and inclusive. The thesis is therefore looking at the structures of one opposition party, the Umma Party, and women’s political participation in the party. This description is then analysed in light of Good Governance’s characteristics of participation, representativeness, equity and inclusiveness in the political society arena. The following questions were asked and answered: • What are the basic features of the political environment within which Sudanese opposition parties operate? • What are the leadership structures and decision making processes of the Umma Party in North Sudan? • How do women access these structures and processes? The main finding is that the Umma Party and Sudan do not fulfill the characteristics or the indicators to claim good governance or democracy – not within the party and not within the country.

<p>This thesis is a qualitative study based on interviews conducted in early 2007 and aims at getting an understanding of the political environment from an opposition party’s point of view in Northern Sudan.</p><p>The study is also trying to illustrate how good governance and democracy are building on each other and that good governance is a pre-requisite for democracy. In this perspective</p><p>Sudan has a long way to go. The main assumption is that women are key to good governance and internal democracy and a democratic society. If the party excludes women, it can not be representative, participatory or equitable and inclusive.</p><p>The thesis is therefore looking at the structures of one opposition party, the Umma Party, and women’s political participation in the party. This description is then analysed in light of Good Governance’s characteristics of participation, representativeness, equity and inclusiveness in the political society arena. The following questions were asked and answered:</p><p>• What are the basic features of the political environment within which Sudanese opposition parties operate?</p><p>• What are the leadership structures and decision making processes of the Umma Party in North Sudan?</p><p>• How do women access these structures and processes?</p><p>The main finding is that the Umma Party and Sudan do not fulfill the characteristics or the indicators to claim good governance or democracy – not within the party and not within the country.</p>

Naujų politinių jėgų atsiradimas ir iškilimas – reiškinys, būdingas demokratinėms valstybėms. Ypač vadinamosioms naujoms demokratijoms bei posovietinėms valstybėms. Lietuvai tapus nepriklausoma valstybe ir vykstant demokratizacijos procesams, šis reiškinys paplito labai plačiai ir tapo būdingas praktiškai prieš kiekvienus rinkimus į LR Seimą. Šalyje, vystantis partinei sistemai, buvo juntamas politinės „kairės – dešinės“ priešpriešos mažėjimas, kas iš dalies sąlygojo vadinamųjų politikos „naujokų“ atsiradimą. Atsirasti naujoms politinėms jėgoms padėjo ir aktyvios reklaminės bei sėkmingos rinkiminės kampanijos, susikurti partijų įvaizdžiai, šioms politinėms jėgoms vadovaujančių lyderių „ryškumas“ ir asmeninės ambicijos bei rinkėjų viltis ir tikėjimas, kad naujai išrinkti tautos atstovai, pakeis tuometinę šalyje susiklosčiusią situaciją. Šio darbo tikslas – išsiaiškinti veiksnius, kurie lemia naujų politinių partijų susiformavimo ir iškilimo priežastis prieš Lietuvos Respublikos Seimo rinkimus. Tyrimo objektas – „naujų“ Lietuvos partinės sistemos veikėjų iškilimo fenomenas Lietuvos Respublikos Seimo rinkimuose 1992 – 2008 metų laikotarpiu. Tikslui pasiekti yra keliami keturi uždaviniai. Pirmiausiai yra apžvelgiama partinės sistemos samprata bei politinių partijų formavimosi procesai šiuolaikinėse demokratinėse valstybėse. Toliau aptariama Lietuvos partinės sistemos formavimosi raida. Siekiant paaiškinti Lietuvos partinės sistemos politikos „naujokų“ fenomeną yra analizuojami... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The emergence and uprise of new political parties represents a phenomenon typical for democratic states. It is especially characteristic to the so-called new democracies and post-soviet states. In Lithuania, following restoration of its independence and launch of democratization processes, this phenomenon became a highly wide-spread, and turned out to be typical practically before each election to the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania. The development of a party system within this State saw an obvious decline of the political “left-right” opposition that partially determined emergence of the so-called political “newcomers”. The emergence of the new political powers was significantly facilitated by active promotions and successful election campaigns as well as striking positions and personal ambitions of the political power leaders accompanied by the expectations and faith of electors that newly elected representatives of the will change the situation currently prevalent in the State. The objective of the research paper – to find out factors that determine reasons for the formation and uprise of the political parties before the elections to the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania. The object of the research – the phenomenon of emergence of “new” players of the Lithuanian multi-party system during the elections to the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania in the period of 1992-2008. To achieve the above-mentioned objective the following four tasks were set. First of all, the... [to full text]

This article focuses on party competition in Bolivia from a multilevel approach with department (intermediate level) as the territorial unit of analysis from 2005 to 2015. The objective is to demonstrate the (in)congruence of an institutional level overlooked by the literature on multilevel studies, for which two indices of measurement are used: Summary Measure of Congruence (Gibson and Suarez-Cao 2010) in a one version and Dissimilarity Index (Johnston 1980) in two versions, nationally aggregated and departmentally disaggregated, with voting data from all competing parties (DISa) and only from those with double competition (DISb). The argument handled is that if an institutional level is important enough to be introduced to the electoral framework of a country, it should also be important enough for academic interest, especially in their relation with the rest of the system. From this, the study concluded that the importance of this institutional level depends on the degree of autonomy it has and the interest of the partisan actors and regional elites. / El presente artículo aborda la competencia partidista en Bolivia desde un enfoque multinivel a partir del departamento (nivel intermedio) como unidad territorial de análisis de 2005 a 2015. El objetivo es dar cuenta de la (in)congruencia que presenta un nivel institucional soslayado por la literatura existente sobre los estudios multinivel. Con este propósito se utilizan dos herramientas de medición: la Medida de Congruencia (Gibson y Suárez-Cao 2010) en una sola versión y el Índice de Disimilitud (Johnston 1980) en dos versiones, agregada a nivel nacional y desagregada por departamentos, con la introducción de datos de todos los partidos (DISa) y de los partidos con doble competencia (DISb). El argumento que se maneja es que si un nivel institucional es lo suficientemente importante para ser introducido al ámbito electoral de un país, debería serlo también para el interés académico y más en su relación con el resto del sistema. A partir de esto, el estudio ha llegado a la conclusión de que la importancia de este nivel institucional depende del grado de autonomía que posea y del interés de los actores partidistas y las élites regionales.

O presente trabalho tem por objetivo entender as principais alterações na legislação eleitoral do período entre 1946 e 1964 e identificar se essas mudanças representaram ou não os interesses dos grupos condutores do processo político. Como metodologia foi utilizada a revisão bibliográfica e a análise comparativa de documentos. Primeiramente é feita uma análise das rupturas e continuidades entre os textos dos instrumentos reguladores do processo político-partidário: o Código Eleitoral de 1945 e o Código Eleitoral de 1950. Em seguida, é realizada uma avaliação das principais descontinuidades nos dispositivos legais para verificar quais grupos de interesse foram beneficiários dessas mudanças. Conclui-se que os grupos políticos associados ao getulismo conduziram e foram beneficiados com a regulamentação eleitoral apenas em seu princípio, uma vez que a edição de um novo Código Eleitoral em 1950 e seus desdobramentos tornaram o sistema eleitoral mais independente e representativo. / This paper intends to understand the main changes in the electoral legislation from 1946 to 1964 and identify whether or not these changes represented the interests of the groups conducting the political process at the time. The methodology used was a literature review and a comparative analysis of documents. Thereby, the paper performs firstly an analysis of the ruptures and continuities between the regulatory instruments of the political party process: the Electoral Code of 1945 and Electoral Code of 1950. Secondly, it is performed an assessment of the major discontinuities to determine which interest groups were beneficiaries of these changes. It is concluded that the political groups associated with Getúlio Vargas guided and benefited from the electoral rules only for a moment, once the enactment of a new Election Code in 1950 and its outcomes established an electoral system more independent and representative.