Institutional Determinants of Party Policy Change in Advanced Democracies: A Preliminary Test of Party Behavioral Theory

Abstract

This article examines the institutional determinants of party policy change in advanced democracies. Party behavior is understood in terms of vote-seeking, office-seeking, and policy-seeking. Party behavioral theory proposes diverse institutional factors that determine what the party seeks under certain circumstances. This article evaluates empirical validity of the theoretical arguments by examining the factors affecting party policy change dependent on the Comparative Manifestos Project data set. This study confirms that the frequent formation of minority or coalition government, legislative structure, and party discipline affect party policy change because these institutions affect the degree of uncertainty in the conversion of votes into policy and office benefits.