Constructing typologies of political parties: issues in their theoretical and empirical grounding Cover Image

Utváření typologií politických stran a problém jejich teoretického a empirického ukotvení
Constructing typologies of political parties: issues in their theoretical and empirical grounding

Author(s): Maxmilián Strmiska, Roman Chytilek
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences
Published by: Masarykova univerzita nakladatelství
Keywords: political parties; party types; typology; analysis

Summary/Abstract: Typologies can be a very useful tool for directing the study of both contemporary and past forms of party politics in various polities; in many respects they seem irreplaceable. However, although they can fulfil this directing role, they do not necessarily always do so, and can vary significantly from case to case. The grounding of the (empirical and/or theoretical) categories employed and the ability of a typology to cover the field of research play very important roles in this. As a rule these two key elements are not adequately reflected by contemporary political science research into party phenomena and processes. Using the example of one of the contemporary “new typologies” of political parties drawn up by Richard Gunther and Larry Diamond, the authors point out the undesirable consequences which follow from underestimating the theoretical justification of the choices made in the construction of party types, namely the choice of dimensions and criteria employed. Narrowly connected with this underestimation are both the unwillingness to make an unbiased evaluation of the research potential of the categories and schemata used, and the tendency towards direct and indirect justification of incoherent procedures employed in the making of descriptive and classificatory schemata. According to the authors, it is precisely awareness of the different possibilities provided by the variously grounded and developed typologies (with varying proportions of theoretical and empirical elements) that is a necessary, though not sufficient, condition of the adjustment of the horizon in which forms of political partisanship existing in both the Old and New Worlds are presently studied.

  • Issue Year: XVII/2010
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 133-145
  • Page Count: 13
  • Language: Czech