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In Defense of Factions

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  • Torun Dewan
  • Francesco Squintani

Abstract

We model faction formation in a world where party politicians' objective is the development of an informed program of governance. Politicians' preferences reflect their own views and their information that, when aggregated via intraparty deliberations, influences the party manifesto. By joining a faction, a politician increases the influence of its leader on the manifesto, but foregoes his individual bargaining power. For broad model specifications, we find that a faction formation process allows power to be transferred to moderate politicians. This facilitates information sharing, increasing the capacity of the party to attain its objective. These positive welfare effects may hold even when factionalism restricts intraparty dialogue, and hold a fortiori when information is freely exchanged across factions. We conclude that the existence of ideological factions may benefit a party: It provides a means to tie uninformed or extremist politicians to more moderate and informed faction leaders.

Suggested Citation

  • Torun Dewan & Francesco Squintani, 2016. "In Defense of Factions," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 60(4), pages 860-881, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:amposc:v:60:y:2016:i:4:p:860-881
    DOI: 10.1111/ajps.12226
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    Cited by:

    1. Crutzen, Benoît S.Y. & Flamand, Sabine, 2023. "Leaders, factions and the determinants of electoral success," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    2. Park, Hyungmin & Squintani, Francesco, 2024. "The Choice of Political Advisors," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 1507, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    3. Fang, Hanming & Hou, Linke & Liu, Mingxing & Xu, Lixin Colin & Zhang, Pengfei, 2023. "Political survival, local accountability, and long-term development: Evidence from an authoritarian country," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 15-40.
    4. Yaron Azrieli & Dan Levin, 2020. "Stable unions," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 69(2), pages 337-365, March.
    5. Jiang, Junyan & Zhang, Muyang, 2020. "Friends with benefits: Patronage networks and distributive politics in China," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    6. Park, Hyungmin & Squintani, Francesco, 2024. "The Choice of Political Advisors," QAPEC Discussion Papers 23, Quantitative and Analytical Political Economy Research Centre.

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