The Old and the New

Abstract

New parties are different from the more established parties in terms of their organization, appeals, and leadership. Not only do they often take the cosmetic step of avoiding the word ‘party’ in their names, but they also usually choose very different organizational structures, with far fewer members and party branches. Furthermore, in contrast to the more established parties whose pitch is based on left–right economic positioning or their socially conservative or socially liberal stances, new parties make a pitch to the electorate based around their novelty, the personality and celebrity of their leader, and an anti-corruption appeal. Finally, many of these new parties are much more leader-dominated vehicles than the longer-established parties. These choices made by the new parties may have positive impacts on their chances of initial success, but have negative impacts on their chances of longer-term survival.