CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2019
| Author | Mikola, Bálint |
|---|---|
| Title | New Party Organizations and Intra-party Democracy: A Comparative Analysis of the Five Star Movement and Podemos |
| Summary | This dissertation seeks to explore the impact of new participatory opportunities on intra-party democracy in new party organizations through the detailed study of two crucial cases: the Five Star Movement in Italy and Podemos in Spain. This case selection is justified by the fact that both parties have been forerunners in their national party systems in terms of adopting new decision-making mechanisms that rely on the Internet, however, they have implemented such mechanisms based on different conceptions of intra-party democracy (plebiscitary vs. assembly-based). The thesis relies on party statutes, party documents, party websites, and media reports of party events; semi-structured qualitative interviews with party representatives (n=28); and two online membership surveys conducted by the author (n=187 [M5S] + 176 [Podemos]) to reveal the extent to which new forms of participation within political parties as exemplified in Podemos and the Five Star Movement grant power to ordinary party members and supporters, and the way this affects intra-party democracy (RQ). The thesis also uses data from the Political Party Database Project (PPDB) to compare these cases with other parties within the same party systems. Besides exploring the effect of participatory innovations on intra-party democracy, the thesis also addresses the theoretical debate regarding whether more inclusive structures inevitably lead to the hierarchization of political parties, in line with the predictions of Michel’s “iron law of oligarchy” (Michels 1911) and the cartel party literature. The thesis has four main findings. The first is that organizational structure is the chief determinant of intra-party democracy, regardless of the participatory tools that are implemented. The lack of intermediary organs makes it much easier for the party administration to control and manipulate membership ballots, as well as to act as an agenda-setter. Second, the role of the party leader has severe implications on the extent to which the tools that are meant to foster intra-party democracy achieve their stated goals. While charismatic leaders can dominate decisions in almost any organizational setting, not institutionalizing their leadership makes them substantially less accountable and responsive. Members have more influence vis-à-vis charismatic leaders who are replaceable, even if these leaders use sophisticated agenda-setting techniques to constrain their choices. Third, online decision-making tools are more accessible, but not necessarily more conducive to intra-party democracy than their offline counterparts. Moreover, complicated tools and processes might still be subject to the “digital divide”. Online policy-making instruments are a promising avenue for fostering citizens’ participation but so far have failed to generate meaningful results due to the lack of feedback and mediation. Fourth, party activists display higher levels of commitment to the party when they also have regular offline meetings. This suggests that even if online tools are a promising way to engage a larger number of citizens in party work, these need to be balanced by face-to-face meetings to offer a satisfying social experience. More comparative work is needed to demonstrate whether these findings hold for a broader universe of cases. |
| Supervisor | Enyedi, Zsolt |
| Department | Political Science PhD |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2019/mikola_balint.pdf |
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