Electoral Defeat As ‘Mother of Party Change’: Towards Objective-Subjective Approach
Electoral Defeat As ‘Mother of Party Change’: Towards Objective-Subjective Approach

Summary/Abstract: The purpose of the paper is to provide a theoretical framework for the study of electoral defeat and its influence on party transformation. The opening paragraphs present the state of the art on the topic, which leads to conclusions about significant shortcomings in the existing studies. In order to address them, in the following sections of the article, the authors propose an approach to the issue that is based on a two-dimensional perspective. The first one – the objective dimension – takes into account the environmental aspect and institutional nature of political parties. The second – the subjective – emphasizes the human factor and considers the role of the personal experience of collective failure, and its perception and impact on collective actions as a response to it. On this basis several lines of study are suggested together with appropriate methodological approaches.

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