Date Published:

2015/09//

Abstract:

In spite of a pronounced increase in the number of states that have adopted anti-defection laws over the past several decades, the literature on party unity in democratic legislatures has paid scant attention to understanding the conditions that lead to the adoption of such restrictive measures on the mobility of elected deputies. This article seeks to fill this gap. The authors provide a simple game-theoretic model to explain the passage of anti-defection measures in India, in 1985, and Israel, in 1991. These two democratic states were among the first to experiment with the constitutionalisation of anti-defection measures. Moreover, their comparison is important because although these laws were adopted under seemingly very different circumstances, they were supported with a strong consensus by both the government party, or coalition, and the opposition. It is argued that the reasons for the passage of the anti-defection laws in these two states were rooted in the strategic consequences of the changes that took place in the format of their party systems. The Indian and the Israeli cases show, respectively, that a dominant party system (India) and a tightly balanced bipolar party system (Israel) provided equally compelling incentives for rampant party switching between government and opposition, which therefore created an incentive for both sides to agree to, and adopt, a strict legislative measure to curb defections. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]Copyright of Journal of Legislative Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Notes:

Accession Number: 103644254; Nikolenyi, Csaba Shenhav, Shaul R.; Source Info: Sep2015, Vol. 21 Issue 3, p390; Subject Term: POLITICAL parties -- Law & legislation; Subject Term: POLITICAL parties; Subject Term: POLITICAL affiliation; Subject Term: RESEARCH; Subject Term: GAME theory; Subject Term: ISRAEL; Subject Term: INDIA; Author-Supplied Keyword: anti-defection laws; Author-Supplied Keyword: constitution; Author-Supplied Keyword: game theory; Author-Supplied Keyword: India; Author-Supplied Keyword: Israel; Author-Supplied Keyword: party unity; NAICS/Industry Codes: 813940 Political Organizations; Number of Pages: 18p; Document Type: Article

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