Regional Parties and National Politics in Europe

Abstract

Parties participate in national politics that do not pretend to national presence. The author asks whether such parties affect policy outcomes and concludes that they do, albeit in unexpected ways. Basically, nonnational parties influence policy making under certain conditions by trading policy for authority. They help national parties get the policies they want in return for transfers of policy-making authority to regional governments. This willingness to support national policies with minimal amendment makes regional parties attractive partners for national parties in government. The author examines this argument in light of detailed evidence from Spain's minority Socialist and Popular Party governments in the 1990s, along with discussions of the role of regionalism in Belgian politics and of the relationship between the Scottish Nationalist Party and the Labour Party in the United Kingdom.