Party Systems, the Policymaking Environment, and Public Goods Provision

• In Event: The Development of Parties and Party Systems

Abstract

Party systems play a critical role in in shaping the policymaking environment and subsequently the provision of public goods. However, existing research on this relationship focuses on singular dimensions of party systems, and does not account for how different dimensions jointly interact to structure the capacity and incentives of parties to successfully implement long-term national policies. In this paper, I examine how two key dimensions of party systems—their degree of institutionalization and nationalization—shape the provision of public goods across a global sample of democracies. Party system institutionalization enhances the capacity of parties to sustain the type of intertemporal coordination that is necessary for the effective provision of public goods, whereas party system nationalization incentivizes public goods provision by broadening the scope of the constituencies that parties cater to. Given that these mechanisms are distinct, I argue that varying levels of party system institutionalization and nationalization foster different policymaking environments that should have disparate implications for the provision of public goods. In support, I demonstrate that while party system institutionalization and nationalization both facilitate a policymaking environment that promotes spending on the provision of public goods, party system institutionalization is more important for generating actual improvements in public goods outcomes.

Author

• Wooseok Kim, University of Glasgow