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The catch-all thesis

Original version of the essay, titled

"The Transformation of the Western EuropeanParty Systems"

by Otto Kirchheimerappears in the volume

"Political Parties and Political Development",

edited by

Joseph LaPalombara and Myron Weiner,

published in 1966

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According to the catch-all thesis

two main changes have taken place inpolitical parties:

1. Organisational

Parties have become more elitist

2. Ideological

Ideological differences between parties have

been reduced For the catch-all party, the top priority is

vote maximising

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Kirchheimers point of departure

is the ante-bellum (pre-war) Mass Integration Party,i.e. socialist working class parties. Had an important

function in socialising members into the political system

This they failed to do, due to resistance from thebourgeois parties (i.e. conservative, liberal or Christian

Democratic parties; here referred to as non-socialist) The socialist parties failed to integrate their members and

supporters into the official political system

Non-socialist parties did not even try. Remained partiesofIndividual Representation, with no incentives to

integrate people. Their core groups already had access tothe state and political system

Note the parallel between:

Kirchheimer: mass integration v individualrepresentation parties

Maurice Duverger: mass v cadre parties

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The conditions for these two types

of parties changed gradually and these changes became increasinglyapparent after WWII

The law of the political market took over

Extension of the right to vote meant that politicaldemocracy was established

At the same time, affluence and increasedstandard of living meant that traditional classboundaries eroded

Socialist parties saw their core of supportreduced, and also less loyal than before

Meanwhile the non-socialist parties began to seetheir chance to make electoral inroads into

previously unreachable groups

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The nature of elections changed

Earlier, elections were focused on mobilisation

of the social groups that supported them. Little

point in trying to convince other groups into

voting for them

The new development meant that elections were

also about persuasion

It had become possible to persuade people thattraditionally had belonged to social groups that

used to be unreachable for your party

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The parties had to adapt to the new

situation No longer any good for the traditional mass integrationparties to portray themselves as the champions of aparticular class, because

it would mean that they disqualified themselves fromcompeting for all the other, socially unattached, votesthat were now up for grabs

Socialist parties thus adapted to the new situation, andbecame what Kirchheimer calls Catch-All parties, or'people's parties'

These parties had given up their efforts to educate andintegrate underprivileged citizens, and insteadconcentrated on maximising their share of the vote

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According to Kirchheimer

catch-all parties are not totally unconstrained in theirappeal to the electorate. For example ChristianDemocratic parties cannot try to appeal to secular oranti-clerical people, and Social Democratic/Labour

parties may find it difficult to appeal to real estateinterests (this was written over 40 years ago) oragricultural interests

Still, this leaves them with large groups that are up forgrabs, for example the blue and white collar, wage

earning and salaried employees in the cities, and thecivil servants

This encourages parties to concentrate on issues whichwill meet little resistance, such as education

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Four functions of political parties,

according toK

irchheimer:1. Channels forintegrating

individuals and groups into the

political order

2. Determining policies

3. Nomination ofoffice holders4. Expression of opinion

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Catch all parties less able to

perform their key functions The integrative fuction not successful in the first place

The expressive function has become increasinglyproblematical

Before democracy, the business of government and theexpression of opinion were separate

With democracy, the functions of government businessand expression of opinion are concentrated into thesame organisations, the political parties.

Catch-all parties find it difficult to maintain the expressivefunction, because they must put re-election at risk

There is a conflict between the parties' role as critics ofthe establishment and their role as support for theestablishment

The expressive function is hindered by restrictions and

tactical considerations

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Reasons why catch-all parties

cannot perform their functions: Drastic reduction ofideological baggage in

favour of short term tactical considerations andattempts to appeal to the new groups

A strengthening of the top leadership groupsand, consequently

downgrading ofindividual party members

Less emphasis on parties' respective traditional

core class in favour of recruiting voters amongthe population at large

Attempts to secure access to a wide range ofinterest groups

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Access to interest groups

has happened partly due to financial considerations

but the main reason is that the interest groups providesomething that the catch-all parties have left behind them, namelyloyal voters

If the party has distanced itself from their traditional sociallydefined support groups, interest groups may offer a short-cut backto the support of such groups

Often random who wins in a competition between catch-all parties

Therefore party has to look for what Kirchheimer calls "a morepermanent clientele". Only the interest group can provide "massreservoirs of readily accessible voters"

Co-operation between parties and interest groups is not new. Whatis new is the type ofrelationship between them

There used to be co-operation towards the same goals between,for example, socialist parties and trade unions

A catch-all party tries to secure links to other interest groups, sothat they gain access a broader range of interest group members

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The most important function of

catch-all parties is the nomination of political leaders The de-ideologisation and reduction of politically

controversial policies mean that personalities becomemore important in the quest for votes

Thus, the choice of the best leader is crucial for the party

At the same time parties have increased the distance toordinary citizens

Parties used to provide a channel of protest, a source of

visions for the future and also protection Now, Kirchheimer argued, parties have become remote,

quasi-official and alien structures.

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Kirchheimer was normative

He did not make much of an attempt to hide thathe was critical of the development into catch-allparties

His criticism came from a Leftist, democraticsocialist, perspective

He deplored the loss of the parties' ability andwillingness to facilitate the integration of ordinarycitizens into the political system

He had a class-based perspective on society,and he seemed to suggest that the catch-allparties are letting the underprivileged classesdown

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Kirchheimer also unhappy

about catch-all partiess focus on getting

elected

The way he puts the argument, it could be that if

a high and equal level of education had beenachieved, then the catch-all model would work

quite well. But he does not accept that this level

of high and equal level of education has been

reached, and therefore significant groups in

society are being let down

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The development into catch-all

parties has adversely affected the parties' role aslinks, ortransmission belts, betweenpeople and the governmental institutions

This is partly because the parties are nolonger interested in representing theinterests, thoughts and ambitions of

ordinary people It is also because the catch-all parties donot offer any participatory facilities

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The fact that voters have been cut off from the organisations of the

catch-all parties, and reduced to voting customers, couldbackfire on the parties

A party, argues Kirchheimer, cannot be any more rationalthan the voters. The voters were once subject to some

sort of discipline, provided by the parties of massintegration

Now that this discipline is no longer at hand, the catch-allparties may be transformed into too blunt an instrument toprovide a link between government and the people

What he means is that, in return for involving, protectingand integrating ordinary people in the political process,the mass integration parties could count on their loyalsupport

If they stop involving, protecting and integrating people,the support from their traditional supporters may not be as

reliable as the catch-all parties may think

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Then,

concludes Kirchheimer,: "we may yet

come to regret the passing -- even if it was

inevitable -- of the class-mass party and

the denominational party, as we alreadyregret the passing of other features in

yesterday's stage of Western civilisation"

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Leon D. Epstein

in his book Political Parties in Western Democracies"(1967) came to the same conclusion as Kirchheimer but Epstein saw this as positive

Epstein argued that it was no longer rational for parties

to provide citizens with political participation and largenumbers of influential rank-and-file members

Members could get in the way of rational adjustments ofthe parties' policies, and the free and unconstrainedcompetition against other parties

Hence, to stay competitive in the electoral market,parties had to drop internal membership democracy andactivist based campaigning

This he called contagion from the right, meaning thatthe non-socialist type of party organisation would prevail

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Maurice Duverger

some 15 years earlier, had predicted preciselythe opposite. H argued that parties need activemembers to be competitive

But Epstein disagreed. Parties cannot afford tohave influential members and activists

The growth of the media, the development ofopinion polls and the general technological

development meant that it was cumbersome andrisky to fight election campaigns based on alarge membership organisation. Members areunpredictable, and inefficient recuiters of votes

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Thus, Epstein and Kirchheimer

reached a similar conclusion

There are, however, two main differences:

First: Kirchheimer does not speak of a

contagion. The catch-all party is a newtype of party which all the existing parties

have to relate to

Second: Epstein is positive to the

development, while Kirchheimerdeplores it