ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the responses of party elites operating in centralised organisations to internal opposition. It focuses on the strategies employed by party leaders to pacify and neutralise internal dissatisfaction. This chapter complements the analysis in Chapter 3 of the manifestations of intraparty conflicts where it was shown that, in the centralised organisations observed, intra-elite opposition adopted the ‘exit’ option as well as the ‘voice’ mode within party bodies, whereas followers’ hostility tends to adopt the ‘voice’ mode outside the party. The analysis covers four centralised parties, namely, the Danish Social Democratic Party (1978-79), the Norwegian Centre Party (1989-90), the Italian Communist Party (1976-79) and the French Communist Party (1988-91).
