ABSTRACT
Chapter 2 examined the use of five electorate-orientated strategies by established parties: ideological change; electoral responsiveness; relations with anti-political establishment parties; pre-electoral coalition agreements and length of coalition agreements. Chapter 4 identified the countries in which established parties engaged in the highest and lowest levels of these strategies, with Portugal and Germany demonstrating the highest use of electorate-orientated strategies and Switzerland and Luxembourg the lowest. Established parties in Portugal and Germany engage in responsive, ‘Downsian’ strategies (Downs 1957), attempting to satisfy the needs of the median voter. In contrast, established parties in Luxembourg and Switzerland have engaged in ‘cartel’ strategies (Katz and Mair 1995), by creating distance between themselves and the voters. The aim of this chapter is to examine the effectiveness of these two strategies upon established parties' centrality in their respective national party systems.
