Effects of Political Institutions on Parties and Legislators

Abstract

How do political institutions impact party systems, party strategies, and legislative behavior? This panel brings together studies of the effects of institutional set-ups on political actors. All contributions enrich our knowledge concerning the question as to how strategic incentives for parties and politicians vary depending on factors such as the electoral system or regime type. They suggest that party system continuity, party cohesion, recruitment strategies, and legislative behavior vary systematically because of countries’ institutional design. Grounded in rational choice institutionalism, the studies further highlight both the generalizability of the rationality assumption and its limitations.