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Collette Shepherd, ecpr@essex.ac.uk
Recent changes in party organisation in Western Democracies. The waning of party models? Chair: Luciano Bardi (University of Pisa) Whilst for at least two decades there have been in the literature many discussions of a “crisis of parties”, the economic depression that has afflicted Western democracies in the last couple of years and its socio-political consequences have brought to the fore the traits of a profound transformation, if not of a fully fledged crisis, of party organizations. The increasing personalization of politics and the demands imposed on national leaderships by the need to quickly respond to the world economic situation appear to have made traditional party structures less and less relevant for policy-making. These trends, superimposed to the already ongoing transformations in party organisations, such as the British Labour party’s decision to sever the umbilical cord that linked it to the trade Unions since birth, or the Italian PD’s resort to primaries for candidate and leadership selection, seem to have made European party organisations more and more similar to their American counterparts. In recent years some of these new trends have been considered as revealing of the affirmation of new party types, such as the “media” or the “franchise” parties, but even these relatively loose models appear to be too well structured to describe the current situation. This panel’s aim is to provide an assessment of the continuing adequacy of party organizational models in the study of party politics in Europe and North America. Theoretical and conceptual papers are welcome as well as papers providing empirical tests of current/recent party modelling hypotheses or significant case studies in party organization. Professor Luciano Bardi Associational Involvement and Democracy: What Happened to the Social Capital Pay-off? Chair: William Maloney (Newcastle University) For many scholars the quality of contemporary democracy is under threat from: civic and political disengagement; declining levels of political trust and confidence; and growing citizen disenchantment, scepticism and cynicism about politics, politicians, political institutions and political processes. An important component of the remedy for this pathology is the greater involvement of citizens in voluntary associations. Such involvement is seen as inculcating citizens with pro-democratic values, enhancing their civic and democratic skills and making them better democrats. However, some recent studies have challenged the notion that voluntary associations are such key generators of social capital. Accordingly, should we disregard or downgrade the contribution voluntary associations make to democracy? Could it be that the associational role has simply been misunderstood? Should we be championing and valorising all types of civic and pro-democratic groups within the associational universe? Are specific organizational features more conducive to producing better democrats than others? It appears that teasing out, how much and in what ways, voluntary associations 'enhance' democracy is a much more complex task than previously thought. This panel welcomes: theoretical or conceptual contributions that provide fresh or novel approaches, or synthesize existing thinking; and empirical papers that are theoretically informed and focus on advancing the current level of understanding through the provision of detailed evidence. Single country and comparative papers (European countries or Europe and the US) are welcome. The aim of the panel is to provide a forum for a critical discussion of the impact of associational involvement on democracy. Professor William Maloney Chair: Martin Bull (University of Salford) The advanced economies of the West have found themselves on new economic terrain since 2008, in having to respond to the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. This crisis has found wanting existing conventional wisdoms and political and economic strategies, and has sorely tested the innovativeness and creativity of political classes in all countries. This panel seeks to explore the political debate and policy responses in the United States and Europe, analyzing the extent to which convergence or divergence has occurred, and how difficult this has proved to be. Papers are welcome on any aspects of political and policy response to the crisis in the countries of Europe and/or the United States. Papers may be single country studies or provide comparisons between different countries of Europe or Europe and the United States. Papers which consider the role of the European Union in responding to the crisis are also welcome. The aim of the panel is to provide a forum for comparative discussion of the most significant economic and political challenge yet of the new Millenium. Professor Martin J. Bull Investing in Governance in the EU and the US Chair Simona Piattoni Collaborative, interactive, network, innovative, multi-level - these are some of the adjectives currently used to describe governance arrangements on both sides of the Atlantic. The objective, in both the US and the EU, is to govern consensually and effectively by involving, in both formulation and implementation, also the ultimate receivers of the policies. The ultimate goal is to make democracy more responsive and effective, as well as to overcome the political and institutional stalemate that frequently affects complex political systems. These new forms of governance, however, may come under strain particularly in times of crisis, when swift, governmental action may appear more capable of responding to the crisis. Conversely, one might argue that it is particularly in times of crisis that coordination, collaboration and innovation - the alleged hallmark of governance arrangements - are particularly needed. This panel invites papers that explore in a comparative manner experimentation with new forms of governance in the US and the EU in times of crises, to assess whether they have been curtialed or boosted by the recent crisis, and speculate on the types of democracy - representative, participatory, deliberative - that they plausibly embody. Professor Simona Piattoni |
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