The Normative Theory of Partisanship

Abstract This chapter presents the normative theory of partisanship and its key dimensions, that is, collegiality and linkage. The former, we explain, refers to parties’ ability to work and cooperate across partisan lines in order to sustain liberal democratic institutions and advance the common good. The latter denotes instead parties’ ability to connect civil society with the state and presents two subdimensions: voice (i.e., the correspondence between citizens’ demands and parties’ manifestos) and accountability (i.e., the uptake of citizens’ voice accompanied by sanctions). We suggest amendments to the normative theory of partisanship to improve its fit for the purpose of analysing party systems and political finance, particularly by defending the need for a systemic shift in the way voice and accountability (and, therefore, linkage) are understood (i.e., systemic voice and systemic accountability) in relation to party systems and political finance arrangements.