Why Dominant Parties Lose: Mexico's Democratization in Comparative Perspective
Cambridge University Press, 9/3/2007
EAN 9780521877190, ISBN10: 0521877199
Hardcover, 368 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 2.4 cm
Language: English
Originally published in English
Why have dominant parties persisted in power for decades in countries spread across the globe? Why did most eventually lose? Why Dominant Parties Lose develops a theory of single-party dominance, its durability, and its breakdown into fully competitive democracy. Greene shows that dominant parties turn public resources into patronage goods to bias electoral competition in their favor and virtually win elections before election day without resorting to electoral fraud or bone-crushing repression. Opposition parties fail because their resource disadvantages force them to form as niche parties with appeals that are out of step with the average voter. When the political economy of dominance erodes, the partisan playing field becomes fairer and opposition parties can expand into catchall competitors that threaten the dominant party at the polls. Greene uses this argument to show why Mexico transformed from a dominant party authoritarian regime under PRI rule to a fully competitive democracy.
Part I. The Macro Perspective
1. A theory of single-party dominance and opposition party development
2. Dominant party advantages and opposition party failure, 1930s–90s
Part II. The Micro Perspective
3. Why participate? A theory of elite activism in dominant party systems
4. The empirical dynamics of elite activism
Part III. Implications
5. Constrained to the core
opposition party organizations, 1980s–90s
6. Dominance defeated
voting behavior in the 2000 elections
7. Extending the argument
Italy, Japan, Malaysia, and Taiwan.