For decades, political science has been trapped in a game of labeling, endlessly searching for the next dominant "model" of party organization. This book argues that this fixation on static ideal types is a theoretical dead end, as it obscures the messy, non-linear reality of how parties actually change.
Moving beyond the "teleological trap" of evolutionary models, this book proposes a new dynamic framework to trace party transformation across 11 European democracies over the last half-century. It reveals that parties are not converging into a new stable form, but are suffering a shared process of decay: disintermediation. The traditional bridge between leaders and society has collapsed, leaving behind a "void" filled by consultants and state funds. This book offers a vital roadmap for understanding this crisis, showing that the era of party models is over, and the age of disintermediation has begun.
Beniamino Masi is a researcher at the University of Pisa, Italy, and a member of the Political Party Database Project (PPDB). His research focuses on comparative party organization, political representation, and public policy.
For decades, political science has been trapped in a game of labeling, endlessly searching for the next dominant "model" of party organization. This book argues that this fixation on static ideal types is a theoretical dead end, as it obscures the messy, non-linear reality of how parties actually change.
Moving beyond the "teleological trap" of evolutionary models, this book proposes a new dynamic framework to trace party transformation across 11 European democracies over the last half-century. It reveals that parties are not converging into a new stable form, but are suffering a shared process of decay: disintermediation. The traditional bridge between leaders and society has collapsed, leaving behind a "void" filled by consultants and state funds. This book offers a vital roadmap for understanding this crisis, showing that the era of party models is over, and the age of disintermediation has begun.
Beniamino Masi
Political Parties Party Change Party Organizations Convergence Disintermediation Contextualism