Beyond Friction: The Democratic Value of Parallel Party Competition

Contemporary democratic theory assumes that party competition serves democracy primarily through friction competition – direct electoral clashes that pressure political parties to be responsive to voters. An alternative to friction competition is parallel competition: Parties can mobilise distinct constituencies rather than clash directly for the same voters. Because contemporary democratic theory often dismisses parallel arrangements as "non-competitive", the democratic potential of parallel party competition has rarely been theorised. Whereas friction competition serves majoritarian democratic values of unity and governmental effectiveness through competitive pressures toward median voter preferences, parallel competition serves pluralist democratic values of diversity and inclusion by enabling distinct groups to achieve meaningful representation. Both create electoral responsiveness, but friction competition generates responsiveness to majority policy preferences, while parallel competition generates responsiveness to distinct group interests and values. Different institutional arrangements enable different types of party competition: majoritarian systems optimise friction competition for majority rule, while PR systems enable parallel competition for minority inclusion. This transforms electoral evaluation from maximising party competition to choosing which democratic values competitive arrangements should serve.