Big tent

In politics, a big tent or catch-all party is a type of political party that seeks to attract voters from different points of view and ideologies. This is in contrast to other parties that defend a determined ideology and seek voters who adhere to that ideology and convince people towards it.

Examples

Finland

The centre-right National Coalition Party has been described as catch-all party supporting the interests of the urban middle classes.[1]

France

The La République En Marche! party founded by President Emmanuel Macron has been described as a centrist party with a catch-all nature.[2]

Germany

Both the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU) and Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) are considered big tent or catch-all parties, known in German as Volksparteien ("people's parties").[3]

India

The Indian National Congress attracted support from Indians of all classes, castes and religions opposed to the British Empire.[4]

Ireland

Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil are considered catch-all parties, both being supported by people from different social classes and political ideologies.[5] Both parties are however usually described as being on the centre-right.

Italy

In Italy, the Five Star Movement led by comedian and actor Beppe Grillo has been described as a catch-all, protest party and "post-ideological big tent" because its supporters do not share similar policy preferences, are split on major economic and social issues and are united largely based on "anti-establishment" sentiments.[6] The Five Star Movement's "successful campaign formula combined anti-establishment sentiments with an economic and political protest which extends beyond the boundaries of traditional political orientations", yet its "'catch-all' formula" has limited its ability to become "a mature, functional, effective and coherent contender for government".[6] Forza Italia and its predecessor on the centre-right and the Democratic Party on the centre-left are considered catch-all parties, both having been formed from mergers of political parties with numerous ideological backgrounds.

Mexico

The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) which held power in Mexico for 71 uninterrupted years from 1929 to 2000 was founded following the Mexican Revolution. Mexican president Plutarco Elías Calles founded the PRI, then known as the National Revolutionary Party, in 1929 with the intent of providing a political space in which all the surviving leaders and combatants of the Mexican Revolution could participate, and to solve the grave political crisis caused by the assassination of president-elect Álvaro Obregón in 1928. Throughout its nine-decade existence, the PRI has adopted a very wide array of ideologies (often determined by the President of the Republic in turn). It nationalized the petroleum industry in the 1940s and the banking industry in the 1970s. In the 1980s, the party went through reforms that shaped its current incarnation, with policies characterized as centre-right, such as the privatization of State-run companies, closer relations with the Catholic church, and embracing free-market capitalism and neoliberal policies.[7][8][9]

The National Regeneration Movement, founded by current president-elect of Mexico Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has often been described as a big tent party due to its various constituents that joined its ranks during the 2018 general elections.[10][11]

Portugal

The centre-left Socialist Party (PS) and centre-right Social Democratic Party (PSD) have been described as catch-all parties.[12]

United Kingdom

When Gordon Brown became British Prime Minister in 2007, he invited several members from outside the Labour Party into his government. These included former CBI Director-General Digby Jones who became a Minister of State and former Liberal Democrats leader Paddy Ashdown who was offered the position of Northern Ireland Secretary (Ashdown turned down the offer).[13][14] The media often referred to Brown's ministry as "a government of all the talents" or simply "Brown's big tent".[15]

United States

The Democratic Party during the New Deal coalition, formed in support of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal policies from 1930s until 1960s, was a "big-tent" party.[16] This coalition brought together labor unions, working-class voters, farm organizations, liberals, Southern Democrats, African Americans, urban voters and immigrants.[17][18]

The Blue Dog Coalition is a big-tent caucus of centrist and conservative Democrats in the House of Representatives, some being socially conservative and fiscally and economically progressive or vice versa. For a brief period following the 2006 and 2008 elections, when Democrats held a majority in the House, this caucus wielded increased influence over the party, but its power declined again after a large majority of its members were defeated or retired in the 2010 election. Its Republican counterpart is the Republican Main Street Partnership.

In counter to the New Deal coalition, the Republican Party was for much of its history a "big tent" party that encompassed a wide range of right-wing and center-right causes, including a wide range of politicians who were fiscally conservative and socially moderate or liberal and vice versa. During the 1970s and 1980s, the Republican party attracted support from wealthy suburban voters in the South and Midwest, Northeastern moderates, Western libertarians, and rural conservatives across the country. From 1968 to 1988, Republicans won five out of six presidential elections, with the only exception being a narrow loss to Democrat Jimmy Carter in 1976. The culture wars of the 1990s and the growing influence of the Christian right within the party prompted the socially moderate and liberal sections of the Republican base, particularly in the Northeast and Midwest, to begin slowly leaving the party in favor of moderate Democrats or independents. As a result, Republicans have lost the national popular vote in six out of seven presidential elections since 1992, while winning narrow Electoral College victories three times. However, moderate Republicans continued to thrive at the state level until the dawn of the 21st century.

Following the 1974 Dallas Accord, the Libertarian Party embraced the big tent idea to the extent it ensured that the anarchist-capitalist views would not be excluded from the majority minarchist party.[19]

The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), Socialist Party USA (SPUSA) and Solidarity US are big tent (multi-tendency) organizations for socialist ideologies.

Other examples

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Lauri Karvonen (2014). Parties, Governments and Voters in Finland: Politics Under Fundamental Societal Transformation. ECPR Press. p. 20. ISBN 978-1-910259-33-7.
  2. 1 2 Sophie Di Francesco-Mayot (2017). "The French Parti Socialiste (2010–16): from office to crisis". In Rob Manwaring; Paul Kennedy. Why the Left Loses: The Decline of the Centre-Left in Comparative Perspective. Policy Press. p. 162. ISBN 978-1-4473-3269-5.
  3. 1 2 3 Isabelle Hertner; James Sloam (2014). "The Europeanisation of the German Party System". In Erol Külahci. Europeanisation and Party Politics: How the EU affects Domestic Actors, Patterns and Systems. ECPR Press. p. 35. ISBN 978-1-907301-84-1.
  4. ↑ Meyer, Karl Ernest; Brysac, Shareen Blair (2012). Pax Ethnica: Where and How Diversity Succeeds. PublicAffairs. pp. 64–. ISBN 9781610390484. Retrieved 7 April 2016.
  5. ↑ Liam Weeks (2018). "Parties and the party system". In John Coakley; Michael Gallagher. Politics in the Republic of Ireland: Sixth Edition. Taylor & Francis. p. 156. ISBN 978-1-317-31269-7.
  6. 1 2 Valentina Romei, Five Star Movement: the protest party explained in charts: Direct democracy and rejection of binary politics brings success but stunts maturity, Financial Times (January 10, 2017).
  7. ↑ "Meade, the King of the Mexican Sandwich". El Universal. January 11, 2018.
  8. ↑ Russell, James W. (2009). Class and Race Formation in North America. University of Toronto Press. p. 155. ISBN 978-0-8020-9678-4.
  9. ↑ Kopstein, Jeffrey; Lichbach, Mark; Hanson, Stephen E. (July 21, 2014). Comparative Politics: Interests, Identities, and Institutions in a Changing Global Order. Cambridge University Press. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  10. ↑ Schettino, Macario (6 June 2018). "Mexico 2018: How AMLO Took a Page from the PRI Playbook". Americas Quarterly. Retrieved 18 September 2018. Morena’s star has risen so quickly because it offers refuge to such a wide range of beliefs and ideologies. The party has room for old guard supporters of Hugo Chávez and Fidel Castro, young leftist academics, former PRI leaders, evangelical Christians, actors, athletes, and even the odd business tycoon or two. In this way the party resembles the big tent of the PRI, which more than a guiding philosophy was guided by the administration of political power.
  11. ↑ Graham, Dave (20 March 2018). "Mexican leftist's 'big tent' pitch puts presidency in sight". Reuters. Retrieved 18 September 2018. In a few months, he has assembled a coalition stretching from socially conservative Christian evangelicals to admirers of socialist Venezuela and business tycoons, each with contrasting visions for Mexico. Dozens of lawmakers from across the political spectrum have switched sides to join Lopez Obrador’s National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), a party that is not yet four years old.
  12. 1 2 3 Marco Lisi; André Freire (2014). "The selection of political party leaders in Portugal". In Jean-Benoit Pilet; William Cross. The Selection of Political Party Leaders in Contemporary Parliamentary Democracies: A Comparative Study. Routledge. p. 124. ISBN 978-1-317-92945-1.
  13. ↑ "In full: Brown's government". BBC News. June 29, 2007.
  14. ↑ "The fallout from Brown's job offer". BBC News. June 21, 2007.
  15. ↑ "First 100 days: Gordon Brown". BBC News. October 5, 2007.
  16. ↑ David C. King, "The Polarization of American Parties and Mistrust of Government" in Why People Don't Trust Government (eds. Joseph S. Nye, Philip Zelikow, David C. King: Harvard University Press, 1997).
  17. ↑ Lisa Young, Feminists and Party Politics (University of Michigan Press, 2000), p. 84.
  18. ↑ Holly M. Allen, "New Deal Coalition" in Class in America: An Encyclopedia (Vol. 2: H-P), ed. Robert E. Weir (ABC-CLIO, 2007), p. 571: "During the 1930s liberals, labor unions, white ethnics, African Americans, farm groups, and Southern whites united to form the New Deal coalition. Though never formally organized, the coalition was sufficiently cohesive to make the Democratic Party the majority party from 1931 into the 1980s. Democrats won seven out of nine presidential contests and maintained majorities in both houses of Congress from 1932 to 1964. The divisiveness of the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam War, the increasing segmentation of the labor force, and waning influence of unions, and the relative weakness of Democratic Party leadership are among the factors that led to the coalition's erosion in the late 1960s."
  19. ↑ Paul Gottfried, The conservative movement: Social movements past and present , Twayne Publishers, 1993, p. 46.
  20. ↑ Hroník, Jiří. "Známe tajemství velkého úspěchu Andreje Babiše". Parlamentní listy. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  21. ↑ Mlejnek, Josef. "Marketing jako kingmaker aneb Kam směřují české politické strany?". Revue Politika. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
  22. 1 2 Sarah Elise Wiliarty (16 August 2010). The CDU and the Politics of Gender in Germany: Bringing Women to the Party. Cambridge University Press. pp. 218–221. ISBN 978-1-139-49116-7.
  23. ↑ Daniel Gallas. "Dilma Rousseff and Brazil face up to decisive month". BBC. Retrieved 27 August 2017.
  24. ↑ James L. Newell; James Newell (28 January 2010). The Politics of Italy: Governance in a Normal Country. Cambridge University Press. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-521-84070-5.
  25. ↑ Jane L. Curry (2011). "Poland: The Politics of "God's Playground"". In Sharon L. Wolchik; Jane L. Curry. Central and East European Politics: From Communism to Democracy. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 171. ISBN 978-0-7425-6734-4.
  26. ↑ Maria Maguire (1986). "Ireland". In Peter Flora. Growth to Limits: Germany, United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy. Walter de Gruyter. p. 333. ISBN 978-3-11-011131-6.
  27. ↑ Eoin O'Malley (2011). Contemporary Ireland. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 13. ISBN 978-0-230-34382-5.
  28. ↑ Ditrych, Ondrej (July 2013). "The Georgian succession" (PDF). European Union Institute for Security Studies. p. 4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 February 2016. ...GD as a catch-all movement...
  29. ↑ Lowell Barrington (2009). Comparative Politics: Structures and Choices. Cengage Learning. p. 379. ISBN 0-618-49319-0.
  30. ↑ Mohammadighalehtaki, Ariabarzan (2012). Organisational Change in Political Parties in Iran after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. With Special Reference to the Islamic Republic Party (IRP) and the Islamic Iran Participation Front Party (Mosharekat) (Ph.D. thesis). Durham University. p. 176.
  31. ↑ https://www.lesinrocks.com/2017/06/09/actualite/legislatives-le-parti-demmanuel-macron-un-caractere-attrape-tout-11954037/
  32. ↑ Glenn D. Hook; Julie Gilson; Christopher W. Hughes; Hugo Dobson (2001). Japan's International Relations: Politics, Economics and Security. Routledge. p. 58. ISBN 978-1-134-32806-2.
  33. ↑ Sigrid Baringhorst; Veronika Kneip; Johanna Niesyto (2009). Political Campaigning on the Web. transcript Verlag. p. 236. ISBN 978-3-8376-1047-5.
  34. ↑ "MORENA (National Regeneration Movement)". 2018-01-21.
  35. ↑ O'Kane, David; Hepner, Tricia (2011), Biopolitics, Militarism, and Development: Eritrea in the Twenty-First Century, Berghahn Books, p. xx, ISBN 9780857453990, retrieved 15 January 2011
  36. ↑ William Cross (2015). "Party Membership in Quebec". In Emilie van Haute; Anika Gauja. Party Members and Activists. Routledge. p. 50. ISBN 978-1-317-52432-8.
  37. ↑ David Torrance, "Scotland's Progressive Dilemma," The Political Quarterly, 88 (2017): 52–59. doi:10.1111/1467-923X.12319
  38. ↑ Severin Carrell, "Alex Salmond's big tent bulges as Tommy Sheridan lends voteless support," The Guardian, 25 April 2011. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/2011/apr/25/alex-salmond-tommy-sheridan-election
  39. ↑ Tom Gallagher; Allan M. Williams (1989). "Southern European socialism in the 1990s". In Tom Gallagher; Allan M. Williams. Southern European Socialism: Parties, Elections, and the Challenge of Government. Manchester University Press. pp. 271–. ISBN 978-0-7190-2500-6. . Page 271.
  40. ↑ Günther Pallaver (2008). "South Tyrol's Consociational Democracy: Between Political Claim and Social Reality". In Jens Woelk; Francesco Palermo; Joseph Marko. Tolerance Through Law: Self Governance and Group Rights In South Tyrol. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. pp. 305, 309. ISBN 978-90-04-16302-7.
  41. ↑ David Lublin (2014). Minority Rules: Electoral Systems, Decentralization, and Ethnoregional Party Success. Oxford University Press. p. 229. ISBN 978-0-19-994884-0.
  42. ↑ Sventlana S. Bodrunova; Anna A. Litvinenko (2013). "New media and political protest: the formation of a public counter-sphere in Russia, 2008–2012". In Andrey Makarychev; Andre Mommen. Russia’s Changing Economic and Political Regimes: The Putin Years and Afterwards. Routledge. p. 35. ISBN 978-1-135-00695-2.
  43. ↑ "Junts pel Sí (Together for Yes): "We are all in, we've reached the end of the line"". Ara. 2015-07-21.
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