ABSTRACT
This chapter considers how different properties of individual parties can affect country governance. Most policy research concerning political parties has asked whether public policies differ under governments controlled by different types of parties, especially parties with different ideologies. A competitive party system tends to promote country governance, of which Rule of Law (RL) is just one indicator. More research has studied the effects of individual political parties on government policies than the effects of party systems on government performance. In general, leftist government pursued policies that lowered unemployment, while rightist government favored combating inflation, a policy theoretically incompatible with lowering unemployment. Theory of party system effects on country governance originates in a normative theory: It is good to have political parties competing to control government in open elections. The chapter explores data collection and explanation on the effects of party systems, which conforms to a programmatic shift in democracy assistance.
