Data di Pubblicazione:
2014
Citazione:
Gamson rule not for all : patterns of portfolio allocation among Italian party factions / A. Ceron. - In: EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL RESEARCH. - ISSN 0304-4130. - 53:1(2014 Feb), pp. 180-199.
Abstract:
This article investigates the dynamics of portfolio allocation within political
parties to shed light on the patterns of conflict and cooperation between rival party factions.
It provides a game-theoretic model that helps in explaining differences in portfolio allocation
due to alternative modes of party organisation or party system competitiveness. Focusing
on party congresses to estimate the number, strength and policy positions of party
factions, the Italian case is analysed by testing some hypotheses generated by the theoretical
model.The results shown that, overall, spoils are shared in proportion to the strength of each
faction, in line with the prediction of Gamson’s Law. However, there are also some important
deviations from this path. Rules that foster party leaders’ autonomy in fact provide
them with a higher degree of discretion that will be used to reward their followers and to
ward off any credible and harmful threat to party unity. Indeed, strategic portfolio allocation might balance out a lower amount of policy payoffs and becomes a strategy to restrain
minorities from breaking away, thus contributing to the preservation of party unity in highly
competitive political systems
Tipologia IRIS:
01 - Articolo su periodico
Keywords:
Gamson rule; Intra-party politics; Italian party system; Party factions; Portfolio allocation
Elenco autori:
A. Ceron
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