Update > Federalism and Ethnic and Regional Political Parties

Federalism and Ethnic and Regional Political Parties

2022-09-06

Important actors in discussions about federalism are regional or ethnic parties, who advocate for the rights and interests of their region or ethnic group. These are contrasted with state-wide parties (SWP) whose focus is on the interests of whole country.

Federalism can empower ethnic or regional parties and build the political standing they need to negotiate with the central government, other federal governments and SWPs. In some cases, this has strengthened national unity by integrating these parties into the national political system. Demands of regional/national parties often relate to the transfer of powers to regional government. They address these demands both directly on the national government, and also through putting pressure on the regional branches of statewide parties through electoral competition. This forces the latter to align their policy positions more closely with the needs and concerns of ethnic or regional minorities in order to cope with the electoral challenge on the regional level.

Case study: Regionalism in India
Regionalism in India is a countrywide phenomenon, often tends to take the form of well-conceived and well-organized campaigns.

The demands of these political/regional movements take four forms:

1. Demand of the people of certain area for separate statehood. 

2. Demand of the people of certain area for secession from the Indian Union.

3. Demand of the people of certain union territories for full-fledged statehood.

4. The demand of certain people for favorable settlement in inter-state disputes.

Regionalists and nationalists find themselves in acute conflict in six major areas:

1. Language policy

2. Educational policy

3. Resource allocation

4. Mass media control

5. Electoral competition

6. Using the state machinery under its complete control. 

Source: Role of Political Parties in Balancing Federalism and Regionalism

Local Political Cleavages in the Netherlands
National parties can be classified more easily than independent local parties. Voter surveys show that virtually all Dutch voters manage to position national parties on a left-right scale and do so relatively consistently and stable basis. This gives the national parties a distinctive ideological profile. However, for their local branches, there is a downside. As national party profiles are largely based on national themes, party positions on local issues tend to be fuzzy. Independent local parties find themselves in a reverse situation. Their ideological position on the classic left-right spectrum is vague, but they take clear and distinctive positions on local issues. In doing so, independent parties introduce three new political cleavages to the left-right division. Parties with a localist profile emphasize the contrast between municipal interests on one side, and regional, provincial, or national interests, on the other. They stress that independent local party councilors are in a better position to promote local interests than representatives of party branches, who are assumed to be more responsive to pressures from fellow party members at higher administrative levels. The second new political dividing line is between establishment and anti-establishment. This dividing line is particularly politicized by protest

Source: Independent Local Political Parties in the Netherlands