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Political parties - Kitschelt and movement parties

5 important questions on Political parties - Kitschelt and movement parties

Where do political movements and protests differ?

Political movements are more disruptive. They want to achieve a collective interest

What are some characteristics of a movement party?

- little investment in a formal organizational party structure
- lack an institutionalized system for creating a cohesive preference schedule
- They attempt a dual track by combining activities within the political arena

What are functional criteria of a political movement/party?

- collective action -> coordination requires human labor and capital equipment -> to build an organizational structure
- social choice -> construct a single collective preference schedule commonly pursued objective

Why do social movements become movement parties?

- the formal and informal thresholds of political representation are moderate to low
- large established parties make no effort to embrace these interests
- collective interests are intensely held by a large constituency willing to articulate their demands through disruptive activities

What does Kitschelt conclude about movement parties?

Movement parties are unstable because a variety of incentives nudge politicians and their constituents towards accepting organizational structures and strategic appeals inconsistent with those