Party Discipline and Parliamentary Politics

This text examines the interaction and contention between party leaders and MPs to study the underlying structure of party unity.

Christopher J. Kam (Author)

9780521518291, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 26 March 2009

278 pages
23.5 x 15.8 x 2 cm, 0.59 kg

'… a very important contribution to the study of legislatures. It is also an excellent example of the recent theoretical and empirical advances in the study of parliamentary politics in the UK … Kam's …empirical analyses are careful and convincing. His use of particular episodes of parliamentary life to test his hypotheses is particularly engaging. In addition, [his] comparative approach is one of the great strengths of his book; by harnessing evidence from various contexts, he can provide a firm footing for his theoretical arguments … [this] book fits well into [the] revival of interest in parliaments in Westminster systems and deserves to be widely read by anyone wishing to understand how legislatures work. Most importantly, the book suggests new avenues for further research into the activities of MPs and how voters respond to them.' Markus Wagner, Parliamentary Affairs

One of the chief tasks facing political leaders is to build and maintain unity within their parties. This text examines the relationship between party leaders and Members of Parliament in Britain, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, showing how the two sides interact and sometimes clash. Christopher J. Kam demonstrates how incentives for MPs to dissent from their parties have been amplified by a process of partisan dealignment that has created electorates of non-partisan voters who reward shows of political independence. Party leaders therefore rely on a mixture of strategies to offset these electoral pressures, from offering MPs advancement to threatening discipline, and ultimately relying on a long-run process of socialization to temper their MPs' dissension. Kam reveals the underlying structure of party unity in modern Westminster parliamentary politics, and drives home the point that social norms and socialization reinforce rather than displace appeals to MPs' self-interest.

1. Introduction
2. A model of intra-party politics
3. Patterns of backbench dissent in four Westminster parliamentary systems, 1945–2005
4. Policy preferences and backbench dissent in Great Britain and Canada
5. Dissent, constituency service, and the personal vote in Great Britain and New Zealand
6. The cost of dissent to the party
7. Demotion and dissent in the Canadian Liberal Party, 1991–7
8. Discipline and dissent in the Australian Coalition, 1996–8
9. Career trajectories, socialization, and backbench dissent in the British House of Commons
10. Conclusion
Appendix 1. Comparative statics and proofs
Appendix 2. Content and construction of ideological scales
Appendix 3. Sampling and coding of media dissent and discipline
Appendix 4. Demotion and the parliamentary careers of Canadian MPs
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Political parties [JPL], Political structure & processes [JPH], Comparative politics [JPB]