Choosing party leaders: Anglophone democracies, British parties and the limits of comparative politics

Denham, Andrew

Abstract

Since 1965, Britain’s major political parties have radically, and repeatedly, changed the ways in which they choose their leaders. Building on a recent comparative study of party leadership selection in the five principal Anglophone (‘Westminster’) parliamentary democracies (Cross and Blais, 2012a), this article first outlines a theoretical framework that purports to explain why the major parties in three of those countries, including Britain, have adopted such reform. It then examines why five major British parties have done so since 1965. It argues that, while Cross and Blais’ study makes a significant contribution to our knowledge and understanding of processes of party leadership selection reform in Anglophone parliamentary democracies, it has limited explanatory power when applied to changes enacted by the major parties in modern and contemporary Britain. Instead, the adoption of such reform in the British context is ultimately best understood and explained by examining both the internal politics and external circumstances of individual parties.

Citation

Denham, A. (2017). Choosing party leaders: Anglophone democracies, British parties and the limits of comparative politics. British Politics, 12(2), 250-266. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41293-016-0022-8

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 19, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Aug 12, 2016
• Publication Date: May 31, 2017
• Deposit Date: Jul 20, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Aug 12, 2016
• Journal: British Politics
• Print ISSN: 1746-918X
• Electronic ISSN: 1746-9198
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 12
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 250-266
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41293-016-0022-8
• Keywords: party leaders; leadership selection; Anglophone democracies; comparative politics; British politics
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/863750
• Publisher URL: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1057%2Fs41293-016-0022-8
• Related Public URLs: http://www.springer.com/social+sciences/political+science/journal/41293
• Additional Information: This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in British Politics. The definitive publisher-authenticated version Denham, A. Br Polit (2016). doi:10.1057/s41293-016-0022-8 is available online at: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1057%2Fs41293-016-0022-8