Electoral Competition and Legislative Minority Parties: Schlesinger’s Parties in a Legislative Setting

Authors

  • Thomas H. Little

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15763/issn.2374-7781.1995.16.0.299-316

Abstract

According to Joseph A. Schlesinger, modem American political parties are driven by the desire to win office, and policy objectives are secondary. The purpose of this paper is to examine the nature of minority legislative parties in the context of Schlesinger’s market- based definition of political parties. The objective of this paper is to determine if institutional competition has similar consequences for legislative parties as individual competition has for individual candidates. Analysis of the senate minority parties in Maryland, North Carolina, Delaware, Virginia and Ohio reveals that institutional interparty competition and the probability of gaining majority status have a dramatic effect on the nature, influence, organization and cohesion of minority parties. Noncompetitive minorities tend to give little emphasis to the external and campaign responsibilities of the party organization, are not penalized for their minority status, are poorly organized and tend not to vote along party lines. On the other hand, competitive minorities give great attention to the elections, are highly organized and vote in a cohesive manner. Ironically, increased corporate party organization and activity are accompanied by decreased individual influence and success for members of the minority party.

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Published

1995-11-01

Issue

Vol. 16: Fall 1995

Section

Articles

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