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The internal power distribution within Portuguese parties : Examining the centre-periphery relations in the PS and the PSD
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This thesis analyses party organisation and internal power distribution in Portuguese parties, focusing on the territorial structures and their relations with the party at the national level.
Notwithstanding the direct implications that contemporary party transformation processes have on territorial party strata and intermediate bodies, this is an under-researched topic in party literature. Thus, the purpose of this thesis is to cover this lacuna and to contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of Portuguese parties’ functioning and internal dynamics. The thesis explores the case of the two main governing parties, the Socialist Party (Partido Socialista – PS) and the Social Democratic Party (Partido Social Democrata – PSD). The research first investigates the ‘stratarchical argument’ which posits the replacement of hierarchical configuration, and the increasing reciprocal autonomy between levels, in contemporary parties. This argument is explored through a dynamic perspective examining the two parties in different phases, from 1974 onwards. This perspective enables the examination of the salience of incumbency-opposition status in influencing the relations between levels and the role of path dependency factors, such as the genetic origin. Checks and balances rather than mutual separation seem to better describe the relations.
Then, the emergence of personalisation and democratisation processes at the territorial level is analysed. To this aim, an in-depth examination of intra-party contests, held between 2003 and 2017, for selecting the federation presidents (PS) and the district presidents (PSD) is carried out, resorting to an original database of direct elections. The main findings indicate a pattern of low competitiveness and low elite renewal at this level of the organisation.
Afterwards, the most recent intra-party democracy reforms (and reform attemps) are analysed, placing emphasis on their effects on the territorial structures, and the territorial elites’ perspective on such reforms is presented. The thesis confirms the salience of the institutional position in shaping internal relations in electoralist parties and supports the argument of the emergence of personalisation processes at the territorial level and the relevance of personalistic linkages in these parties.
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Portugal parties internal power distribution stratarchy personalisation intraparty democracy