In this article we examine the emerging party systems of the devolved environments, with an eye toward shedding light on the factors that influence the number of parties in a system where parties are already mobilized but the institutional context is new. Our findings demonstrate that electoral rules have an independent effect on the number of parties. More specifically, the use of proportional representation has increased the number of parties. In addition, two social cleavage structure factors appear to affect the design of the party system: class and center– periphery. All of these forces lead to a more complex governing arrangement in the devolved settings than that of the United Kingdom.
Bartolini, Stefano and Peter Mair (1990) Identity, Competition, and Electoral Availability: The Stabilization of European Electorates, 1885–1995. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
2.
Betz, Hans George (1993) 'The New Politics of Resentment: Radical Right-Wing Populist Parties in Western Europe' , Comparative Politics25: 413–425 .
3.
Blondel, Jean (1972) Comparing Political Systems. New York: Praeger .
4.
Bohrer, Robert E., II (2001) Decision Costs and Democracy: Trade-Offs in Institutional Design. Aldershot: Ashgate .
5.
Bohrer, Robert E., II and Glen S. Krutz (forthcoming) 'Duverger and Devolution: The Impact of Electoral Laws in the Devolved Systems of the United Kingdom', Electoral Studies.
6.
Bohrer, Robert E., II and Alexander C. Tan (2000) 'Left Turn in Europe? Reactions to Austerity and EMU' , Political Research Quarterly53: 575–595 .
7.
Brown, Alice , David McCrone , Lindsay Paterson and Paula Surridge (1999) The Scottish Electorate: The 1997 General Election and Beyond. New York: St. Martin's Press .
8.
Butler, David (1996) 'Great Britain and Northern Ireland', in Josep Colomer (ed.) Political Institutions in Europe. New York: Routledge .
9.
Cox, Gary (1997) Making Votes Count: Strategic Coordination in the World's Electoral Systems. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press .
10.
Dalton, Russell J. (1988) Citizen Politics in Western Democracies: Public Opinion and Political Parties in the United States, Great Britain, West Germany and France. Chatham, NJ: Chatham House Publishers .
11.
Duverger, Maurice (1954) Political Parties. New York: John Wiley .
12.
Ersson, Svante and Jan-Erik Lane (1998) 'Electoral Instability and Party System Change in Western Europe', in Paul Pennings and Jan-Erik Lane (eds) Comparing Party System Change, pp. 23–39. London: Routledge .
13.
Hermens, F. A. (1941) Democracy or Anarchy? A Study of Proportional Representation. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press .
14.
Inglehart, Ronald (1971) 'The Silent Revolution in Europe: Intergenerational Change in Post-Industrial Societies' , American Political Science Review65: 991–1017 .
15.
Inglehart, Ronald (1990) Cultural Change in Advanced Industrial Society. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press .
16.
Interview with David McLetchie, Conservative MSP and Parliamentary Party Leader. Conducted by the authors, June 2000. 671-671
17.
Interview with Alex Neil, Scottish Nationalist Party MSP and MP. Conducted by the authors, June 2000.
18.
Kitschelt, Herbert (1997) 'European Party Systems: Continuity and Change', in Martin Rhodes , Paul Heywood and Vincent Wright (eds) Developments in West European Politics. New York: St. Martin's Press .
19.
Laakso, Markku and Rein Taagepera (1979) '“Effective” Number of Parties: A Measure with Application to West Europe' , Comparative Political Studies12: 3–27 .
20.
Lijphart, Arend (1991) 'Constitutional Choices for New Democracies' , Journal of Democracy2: 72–84 .
21.
Lijphart, Arend (1994) Electoral Systems and Party Systems: A Study of Twenty-Seven Democracies 1945–1990.New York: Oxford University Press .
22.
Lijphart, Arend (1999) Patterns of Democracy: Government Forms and Performance in Thirty-Six Countries. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press .
23.
Lipset, Seymour M. and Stein Rokkan (1967) 'Cleavage Structures, Party Systems and Voter Alignments: An Introduction', in Seymour M. Lipset and Stein Rokkan (eds) Party Systems and Voter Alignments: Cross National Perspectives. New York: Free Press .
24.
Lipson, Leslie (1959) 'Party Systems in the United Kingdom and the Older Commonwealth: Causes, Resemblances and Variations', Political Studies.
25.
Luebbert, Gregory M. (1991) Liberalism, Fascism, or Social Democracy: Social Classes and the Political Origins of Regimes in Interwar Europe. New York: Oxford University Press .
26.
Mair, Peter (1997) Party System Change: Approaches and Interpretations. New York: Oxford University Press .
27.
March, James G. and Johan P. Olsen (1984) 'The New Institutionalism: Organizational Factors in Political Life' , American Political Science Review78: 734–749 .
28.
McAllister, I. and Richard Rose (1984) The Nationwide Competition for Votes. London: Frances Pinter .
29.
Ordeshook, Peter and Olga Shvetsova (1994) 'Ethnic Heterogeneity, District Magnitude and the Number of Parties' , American Journal of Political Science38: 100–123 .
30.
Pedersen, Mogens (1979) 'The Dynamics of European Party Systems: Changing Patterns of Electoral Volatility' , European Journal of Political Research7: 1–26 .
31.
Rae, Douglas W. (1967) The Political Consequences of Electoral Laws. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press .
32.
Riker, W. (1982) 'The Two-Party System and Duverger's Law: An Essay on the History of Political Science' , American Political Science Review76: 753–766 .
33.
Rose, Richard and Derek Urwin (1970) 'Persistence and Change in Western Party Systems since 1945' , Political Studies18: 287–319 .
34.
Sartori, Giovanni (1994) Comparative Constitutional Engineering: An Inquiry into Structures, Incentives and Outcomes. New York: New York University Press .
35.
Schattschneider, Eric Elmer (1960) The Semi-Sovereign People: A Realist's View of Democracy in America. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston .
36.
Shamir, Michal (1984) 'Are Western Party Systems “Frozen”?'Comparative Political Studies17: 35–79 .
37.
Taagepera, Rein and Matthew S. Shugart (1989) Seats and Votes: The Effects and Determinants of Electoral Systems. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press .
