Globalized Party Factions in the Digital Age

• In Event: Transatlantic Advances in the Study of Party Factions

Abstract

In the twenty-first century, party factions have become increasingly visible in parties in advanced democracies. In the U.S., the Republican Party has been defined by internal conflict since the emergence of the Tea Party in 2009. To a lesser extent, progressives have challenged establishment Democrats from the left. In Europe, both the UK Conservative and Labour parties have become increasingly defined by internal balances of power. In multi-party democracies such as Germany, both the established Volksparteien (SPD and CDU) as well as the newer parties such as the AfD and die Linke have also been riven with factional conflict.
This research project examines the global contexts and drivers of this (re)emergence of party factions. Though factional cleavages are also motivated by specific national contexts (see e.g., Brexit), this work considers how responses to global policy issues—including the climate crisis, changing migration patterns, economic inequality, digitalization, and “culture war” narratives around identity—have fostered internal divisions in established and challenger parties alike. At the same time, the global digital environment affords like-minded factions new opportunities to cooperate and connect across national borders, sharing strategies used to challenge party hegemony over policies pursued and in terms of organizational structure. By doing so, this works helps to explain why and how party factions have become more prominent features of political parties in the digital age.

Author

• Mike Cowburn, European University Viadrina