The costs and benefits of governing in a multi-level system

In recent years the ‘cost of governing’ has significantly increased for some mainstream political parties. In a context of financial uncertainty, multiple crises and growing constraints exerted by global forces, being a ‘natural’ party of government is no longer regarded as an electoral advantage. T...

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Main Authors: Matthias Scantamburlo, Davide Vampa, Ed Turner
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2024-12-01
Series:Political Research Exchange
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/2474736X.2024.2309178
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author Matthias Scantamburlo
Davide Vampa
Ed Turner
author_facet Matthias Scantamburlo
Davide Vampa
Ed Turner
author_sort Matthias Scantamburlo
collection DOAJ
description In recent years the ‘cost of governing’ has significantly increased for some mainstream political parties. In a context of financial uncertainty, multiple crises and growing constraints exerted by global forces, being a ‘natural’ party of government is no longer regarded as an electoral advantage. This is particularly true for parties that have moved from a position of clear dominance within ruling coalitions to a more subordinate role. In this article, focusing on the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and using an original dataset, we aim to provide a more nuanced assessment of the effects of incumbency by examining regional electoral performance since 1990. It appears that sub-national incumbency can be beneficial in regional elections, especially when a party faces significant costs of governing at the national level. However, this advantage is only applicable if the party holds a leading position in the regional executive. On the contrary, being a junior coalition partner at both national and regional levels may further exacerbate electoral decline for the party.
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spelling doaj-art-b8025003cdcf4f938c6d65c3bf27d21d2025-08-20T02:40:32ZengTaylor & Francis GroupPolitical Research Exchange2474-736X2024-12-016110.1080/2474736X.2024.2309178The costs and benefits of governing in a multi-level systemMatthias Scantamburlo0Davide Vampa1Ed Turner2Faculty of Social and Human Sciences, University of Deusto, Bilbao, SpainSchool of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UKSchool of Social Sciences and Humanities, Aston University, Birmingham, UKIn recent years the ‘cost of governing’ has significantly increased for some mainstream political parties. In a context of financial uncertainty, multiple crises and growing constraints exerted by global forces, being a ‘natural’ party of government is no longer regarded as an electoral advantage. This is particularly true for parties that have moved from a position of clear dominance within ruling coalitions to a more subordinate role. In this article, focusing on the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) and using an original dataset, we aim to provide a more nuanced assessment of the effects of incumbency by examining regional electoral performance since 1990. It appears that sub-national incumbency can be beneficial in regional elections, especially when a party faces significant costs of governing at the national level. However, this advantage is only applicable if the party holds a leading position in the regional executive. On the contrary, being a junior coalition partner at both national and regional levels may further exacerbate electoral decline for the party.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/2474736X.2024.2309178Cost of governingincumbencymulti-level systemterritorial politicsSPD
spellingShingle Matthias Scantamburlo
Davide Vampa
Ed Turner
The costs and benefits of governing in a multi-level system
Political Research Exchange
Cost of governing
incumbency
multi-level system
territorial politics
SPD
title The costs and benefits of governing in a multi-level system
title_full The costs and benefits of governing in a multi-level system
title_fullStr The costs and benefits of governing in a multi-level system
title_full_unstemmed The costs and benefits of governing in a multi-level system
title_short The costs and benefits of governing in a multi-level system
title_sort costs and benefits of governing in a multi level system
topic Cost of governing
incumbency
multi-level system
territorial politics
SPD
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/2474736X.2024.2309178
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