Party (system) institutionalization and the institutions of democratic polities
The subject of institutions and political parties involves two objects of analysis and their relationship. The first is the institutionalization of parties and party systems themselves and the political performance they deliver in democratic polities. The second is democratic institutions and their relation to political parties and their institutionalization. There is a two-way interaction between party (system) institutionalization (P(S)I) and democratic institutions. On the one hand, democratic institutions affect the institutionalization of parties and party systems. On the other, the institutionalization of parties affects democratic institutions. Consequently, this chapter has three parts: first, the conceptualization of P(S)I and descriptive characterization of its systemic performance in democratic polities; second, the role of democratic institutions in shaping P(S)I; and finally, the impact of P(S)I on the institutions of democracy. The overview concludes with a characterization of these relations by world regions. The chapter assumes conceptual definitions of democratic institutions without discussing them in detail.
