Table Of ContentPOLITICS AT THE CENTRE
COMPARATIVE POLITICS
ComparativePoliticsisaseriesforstudents,teachers,andresearchersofpoliticalsciencethatdeals
withcontemporarygovernmentandpolitics.Globalinscope,booksintheseriesarecharacterisedby
astressoncomparativeanalysisandstrongmethodologicalrigour.Theseriesispublished
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TheComparativePoliticsseriesiseditedbyProfessorDavidM.Farrell,SchoolofPolitics
andInternationalRelations,UniversityCollegeDublin,KennethCarty,ProfessorofPoliticalScience,
UniversityofBritishColumbia,andProfessorDirkBerg-Schlosser.InstituteofPoliticalScience,
PhilippsUniversity,Marburg.
OTHERTITLES IN THIS SERIES
ElectoralMalpractice
SarahBirch
Semi-Presidentialism
Sub-TypesandDemocraticPerformance
RobertElgie
ParliamentsandCoalitions
TheRoleofLegislativeInstitutionsinMultipartyGovernance
LannyW.MartinandGeorgVanberg
WhenCitizensDecide
LessonsfromCitizenAssembliesonElectoralReform
PatrickFournier,HenkvanderKolk,R.KennethCarty,
AndréBlais,andJonathanRose
PlatformorPersonality?
TheRoleofPartyLeadersinElections
AmandaBittner
PoliticalLeadersandDemocraticElections
EditedbyKeesAarts,AndréBlais,andHermannSchmitt
ThePoliticsofPartyFunding
StateFundingtoPoliticalPartiesandPartyCompetitioninWesternEurope
MichaelKoß
DesigningDemocracyinaDangerousWorld
AndrewReynolds
CabinetsandCoalitionBargaining
TheDemocraticLifeCycleinWesternEurope
EditedbyKaareStr(cid:2)m,WolfgangC.Müller,andTorbjörnBergman
DemocracywithinParties
CandidateSelectionMethodsandTheirPoliticalConsequences
ReuvenY.HazanandGideonRahat
LinkingCitizensandParties
HowElectoralSystemsMatterforPoliticalRepresentation
LawrenceEzrow
PartyPoliticsinNewDemocracies
EditedbyPaulWebbandStephenWhite
Politics at the Centre: The
Selection and Removal of Party
Leaders in the Anglo
Parliamentary Democracies
WILLIAM P. CROSS
ANDRÉ BLAIS
1
3
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Contents
Acknowledgements vi
ListofTables vii
1. WhyStudyPartyLeadershipSelection? 1
2. WhoPicksthePartyLeader? 14
3. ExplainingChangeinLeadershipSelectorates 34
4. RulesoftheGame 60
5. Retirements,Resignations,andRemovals 87
6. Running,GettingElected,andStayinginOffice 113
7. Organizing,Strategizing,andVotinginLeadershipElections 128
8. LeadershipSelectioninNon-WestminsterDemocracies 156
9. HowShouldweChoosePartyLeaders? 168
Appendix 182
Bibliography 191
Index 207
Acknowledgements
A project involving field work and data collection in six countries on opposite
sides of the globe leaves us in debt to a great number of individuals. Most
importantly, we were fortunate to benefit from the assistance of many elected
andpartyofficials.Theseindividualsunfailinglyagreedtomeetwithus,toexplain
their party’s approach to leadership politics, and to provide us with party docu-
mentation.Withouttheirassistancethisprojectcouldnothavebeencompleted.
Many colleagues in each country have also provided assistance. While we
cannotnamethemall,weareparticularlygratefultoElizabethMcLeay,Raymond
Miller,Michael Gallagher, MichaelMarsh, Thomas Quinn, Meg Russell,Pault’
Hart,IanMcAllister,andJean-BenoitPilet.
Two of the editors of this series, David Farrell and R. Kenneth Carty, have
provided sound counsel and advice from the time we conceived of this project
through to its completion. Colleagues at conferences of the UK Political Studies
Association, International Political Science Association, Canadian Political Sci-
ence Association, the Elections, Public Opinion and Political Parties Specialist
Group, and the European Consortium for Political Research all provided helpful
commentsandsuggestionsalongtheway.
ResearchofthissortisexpensiveandweweregenerouslyfundedbyaStandard
Research Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of
Canada.Wehopetheyfindthisvolumegoodvaluefortheirmoney.
Wearebothfortunatetobesurroundedbytalentedgraduatestudentsandpost-
doctoral fellows, many of whom assisted with this research. We thank John
Crysler, Christel Hyshka, Delia Dumitrescu, Patrick Lemieux, Martin Croteau,
Silvina Danesi, Adrien Zakhartchouk, and Joanna Sweet for all their work in
helpingusferretoutdetailsandbuildourdataset.WearealsogratefultoLillian
Ashworthforconstructingtheindextothisvolume.
OurcolleaguesintheDepartmentsofPoliticalScienceatCarletonUniversityin
OttawaandtheUniversitédeMontréalhavelistenedtoustalkaboutthisresearch
for several years, and have regularly offered their encouragement. We are fortu-
natetoworkindepartmentswithsuchtalentedandsupportivecolleagues.
Finally,aswithalllargeresearchprojects,wehaveoftenbeendistractedfrom
otherpartsoflifeandwethankourfamiliesfortheirunderstandingandsupportof
thisenterprise.
WilliamP.Cross
The Hon. Dick and Ruth Bell Chair for the Study of Canadian Parliamentary
Democracy
CarletonUniversity,Ottawa
AndréBlais
CanadaResearchChairinElectoralStudies
UniversitédeMontréal
List of Tables
Table2.1 Groupswithavoteintheselectionofpartyleader(asof
1January2008) 18
Table3.1 Authorityofrank-and-filemembersinpartyleadership
selection(1965and2008) 35
Table3.2 Relativeinfluenceofgrassrootsmembersinpartyleadership
selection 36
Table3.3 Statusofpartiesatthetimeofincreasingtherelative
influenceofpartymembersinleadershipselection:
UnitedKingdom,Ireland,andCanada(1965–2009) 41
Table4.1 Electoralsystemusedforleadershipelections
(1965and2009) 68
Table4.2 Voteweightinginelectoralcolleges(2008) 74
Table5.1 Lengthoftenureofpartyleadersbycountry
(1965–2008) 91
Table5.2 Leadersleavingofficebetween1965and2008without
wagingasingleelectioncampaignasleader 92
Table5.3 Lengthofleaders’tenure(inmonths)forthoseleaving
officebetweenJanuary1965andJanuary2008 92
Table5.4 Lengthofleaders’tenureforthosedepartingbetween
January1965andDecember1985andthosedeparting
betweenJanuary1986andJanuary2008 94
Table5.5 Partieswith‘fixed’termsforleaders 95
Table5.6 Reasonsforleaders’departure(January
1965–January2008) 97
Table5.7 ReasonsforPrimeMinisters’departure
(January1965–January2008) 98
Table5.8 Partygroupthathastheauthoritytoremovetheleader
(January2008) 105
Table6.1 Competitivenessacrosscountriesandovertime 114
Table6.2 Competitivenessandrules 115
Table6.3 Thedeterminantsofcompetiveness 117
Table6.4 Characteristicsofnewlyelectedleaders
(January1965–January2008) 119
Table6.5 Theageofnewleaders 120
viii ListofTables
Table6.6 Theexperienceofnewleaders 121
Table6.7 Listoffemaleleaders(through1January2008) 122
Table6.8 Thegenderofnewleaders 122
Table6.9 Survivalanalysis:partyandleadercharacteristics 124
Table6.10 Survivalanalysis:theimpactofselectionand
removalrules 125
CHAPTER 1
Why Study Party Leadership Selection?
This is a study of the politics of party leadership selection. Leaders of political
parties are the central political figures in contemporary parliamentary democra-
cies.Wecometothisconclusionbyvirtueoftheobservationsthatpartiesoperate
at the centre of our politics and that their leaders exercise considerable authority
overbothpartyandgovernmentalactivity.Throughanexaminationofhowparties
selectandremovetheirleaders,weshedlightonacrucialareaofdemocraticlife
thatisoftenshroudedbytheveilofintra-partypolitics.Studyingtheselectionand
removalofpartyleadersiswarrantedbothbytheimportantrolepartyleadersplay
inourdemocraciesandbecauseitaddressesquestionsrelatingtothelocationand
organizationofpowerinpoliticalparties.
It has long been argued that political parties, at least in established Western
democracies,aretheleadingactorsinelectioncampaignsandthatkeydemocratic
institutions, such as parliaments and governments, are organized by, and
structured around, parties. Through provisions such as state subventions, ballot
access,andaccess tothebroadcastmedia,partiesoftenareawarded aprivileged
place in election campaigns. These campaigns are most typically a contest be-
tween competing teams of candidates representing the political parties. Voter
choice is structured by attitudes towards the parties, their leaders, and the policy
positions they stake out (Miller and Shanks, 1996: 148). Citizens view election
campaigns largely through the prism of political parties, their vote choice is a
responsetotheparties’campaigns,andiftheychoosetoparticipatebeyondmere
votingapoliticalpartyisoftenthevehicleforthatparticipation.
Parties maintain their importance between election campaigns through their
dominanceofkeydemocraticinstitutions.Bothparliamentsandgovernmentsare
organizedalongpartylines(Heffernan,2003;CowleyandStuart,2003;Docherty,
2005; White, 2005). Elected members representing the government party sit on
one side of the legislature and are held to account by the elected representatives
fromtheoppositionparties.Membersofthecabinetallcomefromthegoverning
politicalparty,orgroupofpartiesgoverningincoalition,aspartyaffiliationmarks
thedistinctionbetweengovernmentandopposition.Theprincipalparties’chosen
leadersfilltheparliamentaryrolesofPrimeMinisterandLeaderoftheOpposition.
Theseleadersplayacentralroleinoverseeingtheirparties’policyformationand
indeterminingwhichpositionsareadvancedinthelegislature.Givenallofthis,it
isnotsurprisingthatleadingstudentsofmoderndemocraticpracticehaveargued
