Thomas Poguntke

Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf | HHU · Institute for German and International Party Law and Party Research (PRuF)

Democracy is in decline, and the share of world’s population living in freedom under democratic government has decreased considerably as authoritarian practices proliferate. Surprisingly, most of the analyses that study these developments give little attention to the role of political parties in the decline of democracy, although there is a broad c...

The 2023 political landscape in Germany saw a focus on energy, climate, and migration, with a notable shift of the public agenda compared to previous years. Major internal events within parties, significant legal rulings impacting on the public budget, and debates on important legislation including the Heating Act and Child Basic Security marked th...

The 2021 German federal election was marked by the social restrictions to combat COVID-19, making social media an important component of constituency candidates’ communication strategy. This study examines which constituency candidates used Facebook, Twitter and Instagram in the 2021 federal election and tests whether this usage paid off on electio...

Die deutsche Politik stand ganz im Zeichen des Krieges in der Ukraine und der damit verbundenen Folgen, insbesondere die Auswirkungen auf die deutsche Energieversorgung und die stark steigenden Energiepreise. Erstens führte der russische Angriff zu einer grundlegenden Kehrtwende in der deutschen Außenpolitik. Zum ersten Mal stimmte die deutsche Reg...

This article argues that Karl Lauterbach accomplished the office of federal secretary of health mainly due to his Twitter activities and the concomitant exposure in political TV talk shows . Lauterbach had little intraparty support after his failed bid for SPD leadership . He did not hold a senior office within his parliamentary group or within the...

In the last decade, digital tools have become central elements of electoral campaigns. This trend might have been amplified in 2021, as the possibilities for personal interactions were limited due to the severe restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, little is known about whether the use of digital tools pays off on election day. Thus, this...

Throughout 2021 German politics was dominated by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the debate over restrictions of personal freedoms in order to control the disease. Against this backdrop, German parties prepared for the Bundestag election in September. The Social Democrats had already nominated their Chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz in the previou...

The study aims to evaluate the legal and political consequences of the implementation of Regulation 1141/2014 on the statute and financing of European Political Parties and European Political Foundations. More specifically, we will identify which effects the regulation has had on the ability of EUPPs and foundations to perform the functions that ar...

The 2021 German federal election campaign offers a unique setting to investigate the impact of digital campaigning on the election result. Our analysis starts from the observation that the pandemic forced all parties alike to drastically reduce their campaign efforts involving personal interaction and resort to digital campaigning instead. However,...

Political observers agree that parties in European parliamentary democracies are more likely than previously to give party members opportunities to vote in decisions about party policies or personnel. Observers are less agreed about the implications of these apparent procedural trends. Some, including Peter Mair, saw them as evidence of the hollowi...

Few existing datasets on parties and interest groups include data from both sides and a wide variety of interest groups and parties. We contribute to filling this gap by making several interconnected new datasets publicly available. The Party-Interest Group Relationships in Contemporary Democracies (PAIRDEM) datasets include cross-national data fro...

Relationships between political parties and interest groups form structures that enable and constrain political action. Yet there is a lack of consensus on what ‘party-group relationships’ means. We propose a conceptualization focusing on ties as means for structured interaction, which is different from sharing or transfer of resources and ideologi...

How can democracies effectively represent citizens? The goal of this Handbook is to evaluate comprehensively how well the interests and preferences of mass publics become represented by institutions in liberal democracies. It first explores how the idea and institutions of liberal democracies were formed over centuries and became enshrined in Weste...

This article investigates the way in which party organizational resources and processes may affect perceptions of democracy, looking at the impact of parties’ top-down communication mechanisms and bottom-up internal processes. Our examination breaks new ground by pairing party organizational data from the Political Party Database (PPDB) with indivi...

In this article, we demonstrate that the issue-yield concept is able to predict party strategies of governing and opposition parties at the 2017 German Federal Election. While the electorate of CDU/CSU and SPD favour valence issues, the Greens and the AfD can gain more by concentrating on socio-cultural positional issues. Relying on a unique survey...

The year 2017 was marked by several important elections. The presidential elections in the Federal Assembly (Bundesversammlung) were followed by four regional elections in Saarland, Schleswig-Holstein, North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony that saw the continued electoral success of the right-wing populist Alternative for Germany (AfD), albeit to...

The debate about refugees still dominated German politics in 2016, although the number of people who sought sanctuary in Germany declined quite substantially compared to the previous year. After a series of less serious terrorist incidents throughout 2016, a major Islamist terrorist attack in Berlin in December triggered a debate on issues of inter...

The German Greens will soon celebrate the 40th anniversary of their foundation. It is time to look back and take stock of their achievements and failures. As always in the real world of politics, the balance is a mixed one. There can be little doubt that the Greens have had a considerable impact on the political agenda of Germany and beyond. This h...

This article introduces the first findings of the Political Party Database (PPDB) project, a major survey of party organizations in parliamentary and semi-presidential democracies. The project’s first round of data covers 122 parties in 19 countries. In this paper we describe the scope of the database, then investigate what it tells us about contem...

In this article, we seek to re-consider the ‘presidentialization of politics’ argument in the light of recent developments in Germany and the United Kingdom. The experiences of coalition government suggest prima facie grounds for the erosion of the presidentialization process in each country. Germany has operated with a Grand Coalition in which dom...

This volume brings together leading authorities in the field of democratic citizenship and participation to address pertinent questions concerning the quality of the democratic political process at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Analysing causes and consequences of recent developments in democratic governance and citizenship, it contrib...

In one of his last publications, Peter Mair documented how party membership had declined substantially in virtually all European democracies. As his collaborators on this piece, it seems pertinent that we take these findings as a point of departure and discuss what they mean for our understanding of party democracy. After all, the collapse of membe...

This article provides a comprehensive theoretical model for analysing the influence of European party federations (Europarties) on their Central and Eastern European (CEE) partner parties. It draws on the concepts of Europeanization and party change and is, in principle, applicable to similar processes of party enlargement elsewhere. In the process...

In Keith Dowding's recent Parliamentary Affairs article (Dowding, 2013) he pours scorn on those who maintain that it is useful to speak of the 'presidentialisation' of British politics. Our edited volume The Presidentialization of Politics (Poguntke and Webb, 2005) is one of those in the firing line. We should emphasise that there is a good deal in...

Die Europäisierung politischer Parteien hat sich erst nach dem Jahrtausendwechsel zu einem wirklich eigenständigen Forschungszweig entwickelt. Bis dahin konzentrierte sich die Parteienforschung praktisch ausschließlich auf das nationale Umfeld politischer Parteien (Ladrech 2009: 4). Bevor wir uns der Europäisierung auf Parteienebene zuwenden, ist z...

Parteien sind die zentralen Akteure in der Parteiendemokratie. Sie verbinden das Handeln der politischen Institutionen mit den Präferenzen der Bevölkerung (Sartori 1976). Diese Linkages basieren auf unterschiedlichen Mechanismen, die von der formalisierten Zusammenarbeit mit Kollateralorganisationen bis zu medial vermittelten Bindungen zwischen Bür...

The main goal of our coding scheme is to present a comprehensive instrument for content analysis which can be applied to the study of party statutes. The overall intent is to measure the level of IPD for each of the coded statutes and to express this in numerical terms. In this chapter we explain how we arrive at the numbers. First, in Sect. 5.1 th...

In this book we presented a guide for deductive and standardized content analysis of party statutes in order to measure the level of intra-party democracy of any political party at a given time. The results of the reliability tests showed that the presented coding scheme works well when it was applied to Central and Eastern European party statutes...

Obviously, any deductive content analysis needs to begin with the theoretical deduction of the coding scheme. In this chapter we describe the theoretical considerations which lead us to the different main categories and sub-categories in the scheme. Based on this theoretical reasoning we specify the actual coding scheme in a second step (see Chapte...

The coding scheme presented in this chapter is developed on the basis of the theoretical considerations sketched out in the previous chapter. In other words, the coding scheme is the result of the operationalization of the theoretical considerations. In our case, it is created in such a way that it follows from general concepts to specific question...

After making explicit the underlying theoretical considerations related to the study of IPD and presenting the coding scheme, special attention is now given to the coding procedure itself. Here we provide general coding instructions and rules as well as some coding examples. The specific coding instructions for each question are listed in Appendix...

This book presents an integrated approach to measuring the level of intra-party democracy through deductive and standardized content analysis of party statutes. Following the two main criteria of intra-party democracy – inclusiveness and decentralization – three main categories of intra-party democracy are theoretically derived: members’ rights, or...

The results of the 2009 Bundestag election and subsequent Land elections suggest that the German party system is changing fundamentally. A few facts suffice to corroborate this statement: Volatility has now reached levels that were last recorded in the 1950s; turnout in national elections has reached an all-time low; the two large parties have had...

German political parties face a complex federal state architecture composed of many multifaceted state-related institutions at different political levels. By analysing political party behaviour at the federal and Land levels separately, this chapter shows whether and to what extent German parties exploit the institutional opportunity structure for...

In this chapter, we seek to assess the nature of contemporary party leadership across the democratic world. We start by reviewing a number of well-known models of party organization with particular reference to the implications they carry for the relative power of leaders over their parties, noting the very definite tendency of more recent models t...

In this paper, we seek to assess the nature of contemporary party leadership across the democratic world, with particular reference to the 'presidentialization' argument proposed by Poguntke, Webb and colleagues in the book 'The Presidentialization of Politics' (Oxford, 2005). This entails a recap of the original argument, along with a review of re...

This article offers an overview of levels of party membership in European democracies at the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century and looks also at changes in these levels over time, comparing party membership today with figures from both 1980 and the late 1990s. While relying primarily on the direct and individual membership figures...

European Parties Research Unit (KEPRU) was the first research grouping of its kind in the UK. It brings together the hitherto largely independent work of Keele researchers focusing on European political parties, and aims: • to facilitate its members' engagement in high-quality academic research, individually, collectively in the Unit and in collabo...

This article examines the impact of European integration on the balance of power within national political parties. It does this by drawing on the results of a survey of key actors in up to 55 parties in the 15 pre-2004 enlargement member states. The analyses show that, when they are involved in EU-level decision-making, party elites are relatively...

For one reason or another, elections are often associated with geographical catastrophes. Electoral analyses frequently use the terms electoral earthquake or landslide election to refer to particularly dramatic electoral upheavals like the famous 1973 Danish elections which brought an unprecedented five new parties to the Riksdag, totalling more th...

In its early years, the German system of government was often dubbed ‘chancellor democracy’. Inspired (or misled) by the dominant figure of the first post-war chancellor Konrad Adenauer, many analysts pointed to the alleged concentration of power in the hands of the chief executive. While this may have been an exaggeration at the time, the German s...

  The likely effects of the ongoing process of European integration on the internal workings of national political parties have hitherto attracted surprisingly little attention in comparative research. This conceptual article discusses how the increasing relevance of European-level decision making may have changed the balance of power within nation...

The German Green Party, which is one of the most successful Green parties in Western Europe, has not only been efficient in changing the political agenda of the Federal Republic. It has also challenged the conventional way of organizing party politics by institutionalizing a series of organizational principles that are inspired by the ideals of gra...

The supranational logic within the political process of the EU has been strengthened considerably through a series of institutional reforms since the early 1990s. Steps towards increased majority voting in the Council and, particularly, the increased powers of the European Parliament have been especially important in this process. As a result, the...

The literature about ‘crisis of party’ or ‘decline of party’ abounds, but most studies in this genre refer to underlying social changes when trying to explain these phenomena. Normative reservations about political parties have thus far been widely neglected in this debate. This article argues that more attention should be given to the interaction...

The surge of new politics in advanced industrialized nations has led to the emergence of genuine new parties in several countries: the German Green Party is the most prominent example. New kinds of participatory aspirations have had an impact on the organizational structure and the internal political life of the Green Party. This analysis focuses o...

Shows that the politics of democratic societies is moving towards a presidentialized working mode, even in the absence of formal institutional changes. These developments can be explained by a combination of long-term structural changes in modern politics and societies’ contingent factors that fluctuate over time. While these contingent, short-term...

Shows that the politics of democratic societies is moving towards a presidentialized working mode, even in the absence of formal institutional changes. These developments can be explained by a combination of long-term structural changes in modern politics and societies’ contingent factors that fluctuate over time. While these contingent, short-term...

Parteien in modernen Demokratien leiden unter der Flexibilisierung ihrer Anhängerschaften. Das ist mittlerweile nichts Neues und gilt auch für die Bundesrepublik. In Deutschland haben die wahlpolitischen Ausschläge allerdings in der jüngsten Vergangenheit Dimensionen erreicht, die sich nicht allein mit den bekannten Erklärungsmustern der Wahlsoziol...

Nicht nur der Wahlkampf, auch der Wahlabend glich einer Achterbahnfahrt: Ein Auf und Ab zwischen Bangen und Hoffen, zwischen widersprüchlichen Prognosen und verfrühten Siegesmeldungen, und dann, nach Mitternacht, die Sieger Gerhard Schröder und Joschka Fischer gezeichnet von einer langen Nacht und einem erschöpfenden Wahlkampf, in Siegerpose im Wil...

Parteien sind das zentrale Bindeglied zwischen staatlichen Institutionen und der Gesellschaft (Sartori 1976: 25). Die genaue Ausgestaltung dieser,Linkage, so der angelsächsische Begriff (Lawson 1980), hängt in erheblichem Maße von deren organisatorischen Eigenheiten ab. Folgerichtig ist die vergleichende Parteienforschung seit ihren Anfängen immer...

The scope and intensity of the challenges currently faced by western European political parties is exceptionally large, threatening the viability of the manner in which they have traditionally operated and causing them to seek new behaviours and strategies. This volume brings together some of the foremost scholars of European party politics, whose...

Die Beschäftigung mit politischen Parteien ist eines der wichtigsten Forschungsfelder der Politikwissenschaft und vor allem der Politischen Soziologie. In repräsentativ-demokratisch verfaßten politischen Systemen stellen sie das demokratietheoretisch wichtigste Verbindungsglied zwischen Bürgern und den Organen staatlicher Willensbildung dar. Sie er...

Shows that the politics of democratic societies is moving towards a presidentialized working mode, even in the absence of formal institutional changes. These developments can be explained by a combination of long-term structural changes in modern politics and societies’ contingent factors that fluctuate over time. While these contingent, short-term...

Ever since the early years of the Federal Republic, the German debate about political parties and the party system has been almost obsessed with the theme of crisis. Contrary to what seems to be the dominant view from within Germany, this article argues that, by and large, the German party system has performed well. Gordon Smith's centrality thesis...

Wie stark sind die gesellschaftlichen Linkages der politischen Parteien Westeuropas? Welche Unterschiede gibt es zwischen den einzelnen Ländern und den verschiedenen Parteitypen? Und vor allem: Wie hat sich die organisatorische Verankerung der Parteien seit den sechziger Jahren verändert? Dies sind die Leitfragen des folgenden Kapitels. Sie fassen...

Welche Kollateralorganisationen gibt es in den Parteiensystemen Westeuropas? Unterscheiden sich die einzelnen Länder stark hinsichtlich der Art der Organisationen, die mit den politischen Parteien feste organisatorische Bindungen unterhalten? Welche Parteitypen sind mit welchen Interessen verbündet?

Die Diskussion der verschiedenen Parteiorgane in Kapitel 6 hat gezeigt, daß sich deren Funktionen nicht einfach hinsichtlich einer innerparteilichen Machthierarchie ordnen lassen, etwa im Sinne eines ‚ehernen Gesetzes der Oligarchie‘, nach welchem letztlich die Entscheidungsgewalt bei den Parteiführungsstäben anzusiedeln wäre (vgl. Michels 1989: 24...

Einiges, das bislang eher Gegenstand intelligenter Spekulation war, steht nun auf festerem empirischen Grund: Die von Duverger postulierte „Ansteckung von links“ betrifft nicht nur die Mitgliederzahl, sondern auch die organisatorische Einbindung vieler Parteien in ihre gesellschaftliche Umwelt; ein großer Teil der traditionellen Parteien verfolgt s...

Linkage durch Mitglieder ist universell. Während ein erheblicher Teil der westeuropäischen Parteien keine Linkages über die verschiedenen Arten kollateraler Organisationen entwickelt hat, haben alle eine Mitgliederorganisation. Anders als in den USA (Katz/Kolodny 1994) sind relevante politische Parteien in Westeuropa Mitgliederparteien, d.h. sie ha...

Voraussetzung für die vergleichende Untersuchung der Linkagemuster ist die verläßliche Kategorisierung der Parteigremien sowohl in vergleichender als auch in längsschnittlicher Perspektive (Mair 1996: 326–28).27 Hierbei sind die folgenden Probleme zu berücksichtigen: Erstens können Parteigremien einer bestimmten Partei ihre Funktion und ihre Positi...

Linkage ist die Essenz politischer Parteien in Demokratien. Parteien sind das zentrale Scharnier zwischen Bürgern und den Institutionen staatlicher Willensbildung (Lawson 1980: 3; Lawson 1988: 16; Sartori 1976: 25; Eldersveld 1982: 11; Katz 1990: 143). Dies gilt unabhängig von der Architektur des politischen Systems, von der historischen Phase, von...

Die im vorigen Kapitel formulierten Hypothesen beziehen sich auf die Veränderungen der Linkages zwischen Parteien und Bürgern in Westeuropa seit dem zweiten Weltkrieg. Eine optimale Überprüfung dieser Hypothesen erfordert einen international vergleichenden, längsschnittlichen Untersuchungsansatz, der eine möglichst große Zahl von Parteien in allen...

Does party organization matter? Dies ist die Leitfrage des letzten empirischen Kapitels dieser Studie. Natürlich läßt sich diese Frage im Rahmen dieser Untersuchung nicht erschöpfend beantworten. So sind die möglichen Effekte organisatorischer Linkages auf die Konsistenz politischer Programme und Handlungen zwar theoretisch erörtert worden, sie spi...

Westliche Industriegesellschaften haben sich in den vergangenen Jahrzehnten grundlegend gewandelt. Das starke Anwachsen der neuen Mittelschichten hat sich in einer fortschreitenden sozialen Ausdifferenzierung, oder gar Individualisierung (Baumgarten 1982) der Sozialstruktur niedergeschlagen (van Deth 1995b). Parallel dazu ist das Bildungsniveau eno...

Politische Parteien werden in erheblichem Maße durch ihre Umwelt geprägt. Hierzu zählen neben den institutionellen, kulturellen und politischen Rahmenbedingungen vor allem der soziale Kontext. Die Wählerschaft stellt für Parteien eine der zentralen Umwelten dar, die die Stabilität der Organisation bestimmen. Auch wenn die Diagnose zweifellos zutrif...