Oscar Mazzoleni

Memberless parties: Beyond the business-firm party model?

It is widely assumed that political parties need to have members in order to fulfil their functions in a representative democracy (drawing up platforms, candidate nomination and electoral mobilization) and in terms of their legitimacy. However, the theoretical literature on party models – the evolution from the mass party to the catch-all party, the electoral-professional party and/or the cartel party – suggests an increasing marginalization of members within the party organization. In the business-firm party model, members no longer have any role whatsoever. The next phase in this development seems to be a party without members. This article analyses the contextual (societal, communicational and institutional) factors favouring the rise and endurance of the memberless party as well as the strategic conditions for doing without formal membership (such as maximizing the centralization of internal decision-making, promoting party unity and enhancing electoral effectiveness). The functioning of two no-member parties – the Freedom Party in the Netherlands and the Lega dei Ticinesi in Switzerland – will be discussed in the empirical part of this article.

Cross-Border Integration through Contestation? Political Parties and Media in the Swiss–Italian Borderland

ABSTRACT This article analyzes how, in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, regional integration across an international border took place through political contestation. Although the crisis has been interpreted as leading to a revival of state borders, we show its differentiated impact on cross-border relationships at the heart of Western Europe, namely the Swiss–Italian borderland. A database encompassing over 1,800 articles published in 11 different print and online newspapers over two years (2010–2012) allowed an analysis of the role played by political parties and the media as drivers of contestation. Our quantitative and qualitative analyses trace processes of both re-bordering (“Switzerland vs. Italy/the EU”) and de-bordering (that is, integration across the border) through discourses prioritizing “the region.” The wider implication from this study is that borderlands are subject to the same push- and pull-factors as states but that, additionally, a third dimension is present. Ignoring this intra-state center-periphery dimension means not fully capturing borderland dynamics, all the more so if political entrepreneurs skillfully seize spatial contention to advance their own conception of regional identity distinct from that of their nation-state.

Regionalist Protest through Shared Rule? Peripherality and the Use of Cantonal Initiatives in Switzerland

ABSTRACT In this article, we are interested in the extent to which federalism is able to deal with peripheral protest through shared rule channels. Shared rule as a key dimension of federal states has not thus far received adequate academic attention. Empirically, we analyse the use of all cantonal initiatives in Switzerland over the past 25 years as a particular instrument of shared rule, subsequently focusing on two peripheral regions with successful regionalist parties, Ticino and Geneva. We find that regionalist parties contribute towards radicalizing peripheral demands in search of attention from the centre. This leads to the mainstreaming of peripheral demands by pulling other parties along. We conclude that shared rule properly designed gives even the most peripheral regions a voice in national decisions, but that regionalist parties may also use shared rule instruments to mobilize their electorate at home to fight their non-regionalist competitors.

Are government regionalist parties mainstream parties? A comparison of the Südtiroler Volkspartei, the Union Valdôtaine, and the Lega dei Ticinesi

ABSTRACT This article aims to highlight how the process of mainstreaming has affected regionalist parties that have experienced lengthy periods of government participation. Adopting an analytic framework based on party goals, issues and styles, we investigate the conditions under which the process of party mainstreaming is favoured. A comparative-historical approach enables us to conduct an in-depth study of the development of three successful regionalist parties of recent decades: Italy’s Südtiroler Volkspartei and the Union Valdôtaine, and Switzerland’s Lega dei Ticinesi. Underlining the crucial role of party strategy, intra-party dynamics, multi-level institutional settings and external shocks, the analysis shows that as far as pivotal regionalist parties are concerned, mainstreaming is not a homogenous process that can be taken for granted.

8 Comparing Populist Organizations

Our volume set out to examine the role of populist party organization in the context of successful radical right-wing populist parties in Western Europe.

3 The Swiss People’s Party: Converting and Enhancing Organization by a New Leadership

German: Schweizerische Volkspartei (SVP), French: Union Democratique du Centre (UDC), Italian: Unione Democratica di Centro (UDC).