1995/01/01 by Richard S. Katz, Peter Mair · 3,094 citations
Social Sciences · #Cartel #Computer science #Democracy #Duverger's law #Eastern European Communism and Reforms #Economics #Law #Law and economics #Market economy #Party platform #Polarization (electrochemistry) #Political economy #Political science #Politics #Populism, Right-Wing Movements #Religion and Society Interactions #Single non-transferable vote #State (computer science) #Third party
paper · doi:10.1177/1354068895001001001
published in Party Politics 1(1), 5-28 (SAGE Publishing)
openalex publication_date 1995/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Many recent discussions of the decline of party are predicated on the assumption that the Duverger/socialist mass-party model is the only model for parties. We contend that this assumption is misconceived, that the mass-party model is only one, temporally limited and contingent model, and that it is necessary to differentiate notions of adaptation and change from notions of decline or failure. Following an analysis of how various models of party can be located in terms of the relationship between civil society and the state, we contend that the recent period has witnessed the emergence of a new model of party, the cartel party, in which colluding parties become agents of the state and employ the resources of the state (the party state) to ensure their own collective survival. Finally, we suggest that the recent challenge to party is in fact a challenge to the cartel that the established parties have created for themselves.