Political Parties in Contemporary Policy Process Frameworks: A Unitary Collective Actor or a Dynamic Organisation?

• Název práce v češtině: Politické strany v současných rámcích procesu tvorby veřejných politik: Unitární kolektivní aktér, nebo dynamická organizace?
• Název v anglickém jazyce: Political Parties in Contemporary Policy Process Frameworks: A Unitary Collective Actor or a Dynamic Organisation?
• Klíčová slova anglicky: Public Policy Frameworks; Political Parties; Three Party Faces; Parliamentary Democracy; Advocacy Coalition Framework, Institutional Analysis and Development Framework, Multiple Streams Framework, Narrative Policy Framework, Policy Feedback Theory, Punctuated Equilibrium Theory.
• Akademický rok vypsání: 2021/2022
• Typ práce: diplomová práce
• Jazyk práce: angličtina
• Ústav: Katedra veřejné a sociální politiky (23-KVSP)
• Vedoucí / školitel: PhDr. Vilém Novotný, Ph.D.
• Řešitel: skrytý - zadáno vedoucím/školitelem
• Datum přihlášení: 23.06.2022
• Datum zadání: 23.06.2022
• Datum a čas obhajoby: 22.01.2024 09:00
• Místo konání obhajoby: C220, 220, seminární místnost ISS
• Datum odevzdání elektronické podoby: 03.01.2024
• Datum proběhlé obhajoby: 22.01.2024
• Oponenti: Mirna Jusić, M.A., Ph.D.

Seznam odborné literatury

Anderson, J. (1997). Public Policymaking: An Introduction, Houghton Mifflin.
Barnard, C.I. (1938). The Functions of the Executive, Harvard University Press.
Downs, A. (1957). An Economic Theory of Democracy, Harper and Brothers.
Howlett, M., Ramesh, M, & Perl, A. (2009). Studying Public Policy: Policy Cycles and Policy Subsystems, Oxford University Press.
Jones, C.O. (1984). An Introduction to the study of Public Policy, Brooks Cole.
Jones, C. (1970). An Introduction into the Study of Public Policy, Duxburry Press.
Katz, R.S. & Mair, P. (1993). The Evolution of Party Organizations in Europe: The Three Faces of Party Organization, In: W. Crotty (ed.), Political Parties in a Changing Age, American Review of Politics, 14, pp. 593-617.
Katz, R.S. & Mair, P. (1995). Changing Models of Party Organization and Party Democracy: The Emergence of the Cartel Party, Party Politics, 1(1), 5-27.
Katz, R.S. & Mair, P. (2002). The Ascendancy of the Party in Public Office: Party Organizational Change in Twentieth-century Democracies. In: R. Gunther, J. Montero & J. Linz (eds.), Political Parties: Old Concepts and New Challenges, Oxford University Press, pp. 113-135.
Katz, R.S. & Mair, P. (2009). The Cartel Party Thesis: A Restatement, Perspectives on Politics, 7(4), 753-766.
Katz, R.S. & Mair, P. (2012). Parties, Interest Groups and Cartels: A Comment, Party Politics, 18(1), 107-111.
Kingdon, J. (1995). Agendas, Alternatives and Agenda Setting, HarperCollins College Publishers.
Novotný, V., Polásek, M. & Perottino, M. (2016). Political Parties and the Policy Agenda. In: E. Zahariadis (eds.), Handbook of Public Policy Agenda Setting, Edward Elgar Publishing, pp. 217-235.
Schlesinger, J.A. (1984). On the Theory of Party Organization, The Journal of Politics, 46 (2), 369-400.
Weible, C.M. & Sabatier, P.A. (2018). Theories of the Policy Process, Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429494284

Předběžná náplň práce v anglickém jazyce

A. Research problem definition:
The privileged role of political parties in the policymaking process is generally recognized by the public, policy scholars and other actors involved in the policy making process (Novotný et al, 2016). Their importance is acknowledged as a result of their crucial link with the public – they represent the people and are assumed to transfer society’s interest to the state (Katz et al, 1995). This not only gives them a distinctive status during the agenda-setting stage but – depending on the level of politicization in the political framework – may also strengthen their influence on other policy-making stages. Additionally, political parties are seen to influence public policy through their representatives in office, often referred to as ‘effective governance’ (Novotný et al, 2016, p. 218). Because of these roles, political parties are considered one of the “traditional cornerstones of everyday political life in liberal democracies” (idem, p. 217) and arguably the second most important actor in the policymaking process (behind public administration) (idem. p. 221).
Nevertheless, a brief look at the literature indicates that although the role of political parties in the policy-making process is recognized, it appears that the issue of political parties themselves is rather neglected (Jones, 1970; Anderson, 1997; Howlett et al, 2009; Novotný et al, 2016). In their work on the position of political parties in agenda-setting, Novotný et al (2016) showed that political parties are generally discussed in a rather “narrow perspectives that reduces them to unitary collective actors represented by party leadership” which results in the underestimation of their role and influence in the policy process (p. 217). A possible explanation was found in the contextual bias that is present in contemporary public policy theories as they are often centred around Anglo-American countries and particularly the United States (p. 219) where political parties are primarily seen as an “election platform” (Kingdon, 1995). As this perspective does not reflect all political structures – especially not the parliamentary democracies found in continental Europe – this thesis aims to analyze the role of political parties in the policymaking process in a continental European setting, additionally taking into consideration its unique multi-level governing structure.
To adequately grasp the various complexities within political parties – and thus analyze political parties beyond their role as a unitary actor – this project will draw upon Katz et al’s (1993, 1995, 2002, 2009, 2012, ) conceptualization of the three party ‘faces’. It is expected that the application of this conceptualization provides us with a more detailed explanation of the role and influence of political parties in the policymaking process as it may offer new perspectives on the interplay between party-related actors (such as elected and appointed officials, party members, campaigners and so on) and elements (such as the election program, political ideology and so on) in European parliamentary democracies.

B. Research Question and objectives
This thesis works with the following research question:

How do we understand the role (and influence) of political parties in the policymaking process in liberal parliamentary democracies?

To better guide/structure the project, I have determined the following objectives:
1. Analyze (both quantitative and qualitative) the coverage of political parties in contemporary policy process theories.
2. Analyze the inclusion of a multi-level governance perspective in the discussion of the role of political parties in contemporary policy process theories.
3. Synthesize the coverage of contemporary policy process theories to the conceptualization of the ‘three party faces’ provided by Katz et al (1993, 1995, 2002, 2009, 2012)
4. Present a comparison of the findings

These are the objectives that will determine the structure of the theoretical part of my thesis. However, I am currently thinking about applying the findings of my thesis to a practical case, either I will:
 Apply the findings of my thesis to a European parliamentary system (e.g. the Netherlands) in order to present a more detailed understanding of the role of political parties in the policymaking process; or I will,
 Apply the findings of my thesis to a specific case study of a contemporary policy conflict (e.g. one that is linked to environmental concerns) in order to present a more detailed understanding of the role of political parties in the policy making process.

D. Theoretical concept
Before we theorize about the role of political parties in the policymaking process, it is important to have a clear conceptualization of the policy making process. Although we rely on common knowledge of the various stages of the policy process (Jones, 1984; Howlett et al, 2009), this thesis aims to focus on more sophisticated theories – for example those discussed by Weible et al (2018). Another important definition has to be made about what we understand to be a political party. As we only aim to analyze those parties that (ultimately) have the potential to influence the policymaking process this thesis uses Downs’ (1957) definition of a party as “a team seeking to control the governing by gaining office in a duly constituted election” (p. 25). This definition not only gives us an explicit starting point but similarly implies that political parties can be considered some kind of organization (Barnard, 1938; Schlesinger, 1984; Novotný et al, 2016).
Hence, this would require a conceptualization of political parties that goes beyond the notion of a unitary collective actor and forces us to simultaneously examine intra-party related relations and behavior. This conceptualization is provided by the work of Katz et al (1993, 1995, 2002, 2009, 2012) in their theorization of the ‘cartel party’. Their theory focused on the transformation of political parties “from a long-term position of a bridge between civil society and the state to a position of being party of the state” (Novotný et al, 2016, p. 227-228). Whereas their theory emphasized the importance of political parties in the latter stages of the policymaking process, it also provides us with a framework of analysis for the various dimensions of political parties, referred to as the ‘three party faces’. This conceptualization not only recognizes the unity of a political party but makes additional assumptions about the relations and behavior of the various actors (such as elected and appointed officials, party leaders, party activists, campaigners and so on) within the party, as it makes a distinction between the party on the ground (based on voluntary membership), a party in central office and a party in public office. Based on this conceptualization, Novotný et al (2016), view a political party as a “complex organizational structure that is similar to the political system … [in which] the inter-relationships among these faces and their struggle for relative influence in the party as a whole” determine the party’s behavior and influence (p. 227). Hence, it is expected that this conceptualization will give us a valuable insight into the (intra-organizational) dynamics of political parties, in order to have a better understanding of the role (and influence) of political parties in the policy making process in parliamentary democracies.

E. Research plan
The initial phase of this research will be dedicated to the formulation of a literature review and a deepening of the selected conceptualization in the theoretical framework. Then, the focus is shifted to establishing the research design and the final selection of documents. This research will mostly be based on a content analysis of contemporary theories on the policymaking process which enables us to quantify and analyze the presence, meaning and relationship between various political party-related actors and elements. This analysis will be divided in different stages – with each stage aiming to select more detailed codewords (reflecting our chosen conceptualization). The final phase of the research stage will compare the findings of different policymaking theories. Once this thesis has drawn its conclusions about our theoretical findings, I am to review the possibility of a practical application (as discussed in the objectives section of this proposal).