When Democracy is at Stake: Polity-Seeking in Party Competition

Mainstream parties are increasingly confronted with competitors that question the liberal-democratic order. I propose the concept of polity-seeking — the strategic ambition of political actors to either preserve or alter the core institutions, norms, and procedures of a political system — as a distinct goal in party competition. Extending traditional rational choice frameworks, I argue that competitive parties must weigh polity-seeking against traditional strategic objectives of votes, office, and policy. When challengers threaten the integrity of the status-quo polity, democratic elites can consciously subordinate electoral or policy objectives for its defence. Using original experimental evidence from local elites in four Western European countries, I test whether, and under which circumstances, such polity-seeking strategies are adopted. The results provide a novel perspective on party competition dynamics under the conditions of democratic backsliding.