Opposition party behaviour inside and outside of parliament: functional difference and mutual influence?

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Thomas Poguntke
• Subject Area: Political Science
• Term: since 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 537706532

Opposition parties play a crucial role in parliamentary democracies as they contribute to the establishment of accountability, responsiveness and innovation. They accomplish this by performing essential functions like criticism, scrutiny and control of the government while proposing alternative policies and personnel. Opposition parties fulfil these functions in two main arenas: the electoral and the parliamentary arena. However, opposition parties in parliament aim to (co-)implement policy goals, whereas they focus on maximizing votes and gaining office in the electoral arena. These differences, however, may create tension that undermines the credibility of opposition parties and potentially weakens party democracy as a whole. For instance, the need for collaboration in parliament may hinder opposition parties from effectively criticising the government or presenting distinct alternatives in the electoral arena. Therefore, this project seeks to examine the communicative behaviour of opposition parties both inside and outside parliament. Furthermore, it will explore the differences between both arenas and factors that influence these different behaviours and their interconnections. We develop measurements of opposition party behaviour which facilitate a comparison of behaviour in both arenas. To this end, this project focuses on the communicative behaviour of opposition parties. We analyse opposition party behaviour from perspective of two main functions of opposition parties 1) the proposition of alternative and 2) the criticism of the government. Building on opposition functions, we will address two research questions: 1) How does the communicative behaviour of opposition parties differ inside and outside parliament and what influences these differences? 2) How does the communicative behaviour of opposition parties inside and outside parliament influence each other? The research questions will be answered using a mixed-method design based on a diverse case approach. First, quantitative analysis will identify general patterns of opposition party behaviour. Our case selection involves 74 opposition parties in six countries over a time frame of eleven years. We measure opposition party behaviour based on election manifestos, social media communication, parliamentary speeches, and legislative proposals. We consider three categories of independent variables: 1) systemic factors (e.g., opposition fragmentation, regime type), 2) party characteristics (e.g., party type), and 3) temporal aspects. Second, comparative case research will be used to gain a better contextual understanding of opposition party behaviour and help to gain insights into the drivers of differences and interactions in behaviour between both arenas. This mixed-method design will provide a nuanced understanding of opposition parties' communicative behaviour in different arenas.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Co-Investigator: Professor Dr. Simon Franzmann