Table Of ContentPolitical Survival of Small Parties in Europe
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new comparative politics
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Michael Laver, New York University
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Ken Benoit, Trinity College, Dublin
Gary Cox, University of California, San Diego
Simon Hix, London School of Economics
John Huber, Columbia University
Herbert Kitschelt, Duke University
G. Bingham Powell, University of Rochester
Kaare Strøm, University of California, San Diego
George Tsebelis, University of Michigan
Leonard Wantchekon, New York University
The New Comparative Politics series brings together cutting-edge work on
social confl ict, political economy, and institutional development. Whatever
its substantive focus, each book in the series builds on solid theoretical
foundations; uses rigorous empirical analysis; and deals with timely,
politically relevant questions.
Curbing Bailouts: Bank Crises and Democratic Accountability in
Comparative Perspective
Guillermo Rosas
The Madisonian Turn: Political Parties and Parliamentary
Democracy in Nordic Europe
Edited by Torbjörn Bergman and Kaare Strøm
Political Survival of Small Parties in Europe
Jae-Jae Spoon
Veto Power: Institutional Design in the European Union
Jonathan B. Slapin
Political Survival of
Small Parties in Europe
Jae-Jae Spoon
The University of Michigan Press
Ann Arbor
Copyright © by the University of Michigan 2011
All rights reserved
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Spoon, Jae-Jae Michelle.
Political survival of small parties in Europe / Jae-Jae Spoon.
p. cm. — (New comparative politics)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn978-0-472-11790-1 (cloth : alk. paper) —
isbn978-0-472-02769-9 (ebk.)
1. Political parties—Europe. I. Title.
jn50.s66 2011
324.2094—dc22
2011014825
For CJ
Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xi
List of Political Party Names xiii
chapter 1. Small Party Survival: Challenges and Solutions 1
chapter 2. Balancing Preferences: A Theory of Small Party Survival 26
chapter 3. Preelection Coalitions in France:
A Lasting Electoral Strategy? 53
chapter 4. Focusing Locally and Targeting Nationally in the
United Kingdom: Working toward Representation
in Westminster 79
chapter 5. Communicating Credibility: Elected Of‹cials and
Media Strategies 109
chapter 6. The Balancing Act Synthesized: Policy, Electoral, and
Communication Strategies 139
Appendixes 153
Notes 161
References 175
Index 193
Preface
as this book went to press, the United Kingdom was undergoing re-
markable political change. In the May 2010 general elections, for only the
second time since World War II, no party received a majority of seats in the
House of Commons. After ‹ve days of negotiations, David Cameron’s Con-
servative Party and Nick Clegg’s Liberal Democrats formed a coalition gov-
ernment. Postwar Britain had no precedent for a true coalition govern-
ment, where the parties would share the cabinet portfolios, as is the norm
in many West European countries. Cameron became prime minister, and
Clegg was appointed deputy prime minister. Consideration of the party’s
long-term policy goal of electoral reform was a condition of the Liberal
Democrats’ agreement to enter into a coalition with either Labour or the
Conservatives. Much to the surprise of his own party and political pundits
alike, Cameron agreed to a referendum on the alternative vote, even
though it would likely hurt the Tories in future elections.
A second event, of no less historic importance, was that the Green Party
of England and Wales won its ‹rst seat in Westminster. Thirty-seven years
after the party’s founding, it achieved its ultimate goal of electing a mem-
ber of Parliament (MP). Despite the ‹rst-past-the-post electoral system, co-
optation of issues by the larger parties, and strong voter allegiances to those
parties, the Greens’ long-term strategy of building support in local elec-
tions and targeting efforts in national elections enabled it to overcome
these hurdles. As in 2005, the party targeted three constituencies for the
2010 general election—Brighton Pavilion, Lewisham Deptford, and Nor-
wich South. The national party funneled funds, volunteers, and other re-
sources to these constituencies. The local parties chose their candidates
early and selected candidates who had previously run, who were well-
known both inside and outside of Green Party circles, or both. Several years
