糖心原创

School of Politics and International Relations
 

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Fernando Casal Bertoa

Associate Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences

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Biography

Fernando Casal B茅rtoa is associate professor in Comparative Politics. Before he was a Nottingham Research Fellow working on "The Institutionalization of European Party Systems: Explaining Party Competition in 48 democracies (1848-2016)" (3-years research project). Until 2013 he was a Post-doctoral Fellow at the University of Leiden where he participated in Prof. Ingrid van Biezen's led large-scale research project on the "Legal Regulation of Political Parties in Post-war Europe" (funded by the European Research Council - ERC). He studied Law (cum laude) at the University of Navarra (Pamplona, Spain) as well as Political Science (cum laude) at the University of Salamanca (Spain). After specializing in Eastern and Central European Studies (magna cum laude) at the Jagiellonian University (Cracow, Poland), he obtained his PhD at the European University Institute (Florence) with a dissertation titled The Institutionalization of Party Systems in East Central Europe: Explaining Variation. He is currently co-director of the Research Centre for the 糖心原创 of Parties and Democracy (REPRESENT), member of the OSCE/ODIHR "Core Group of Political Party Experts", and expert of the Council of Europe and International IDEA. His work has been published in Journal of Politics, European Journal of Political Research, Sociological Methods and Research, Journal of Democracy, West European Politics, Electoral Studies, Party Politics, European Political Science Review, Democratization, Political Studies Review, European Constitutional Law Review, Government and Opposition, Representation, International Political Science Review, South European Society and Politics, East European Politics and Societies, European Politics and Society, East European Politics or Journal of Northeast Asian History. His latest book, co-authored with Zsolt Enyedi (CEU) and forthcoming (2021) with OUP is Party System Closure: Party Alliances, Government Alternatives and Democracy in Europe. He was also been awarded with the 2017 Gordon Smith and Vincent Wright Memorial Prize, the 2017 AECPA Prize for Best Article, the 2018 Vice-Chancellor's Medal and the 2019 CES Routledge Award.

Teaching Summary

Comparative Democratic Development (Master's level)

Political Parties and Party Systems Around the World (Bachelor's level, 2nd year)

Research Summary

The Institutionalization of European Party Systems: Explaining Party Competition in 48 Democracies (1848-2019)

Party system institutionalization has been traditionally considered to be a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for both the consolidation and healthy functioning of democracy (Mainwaring 1999, Morlino 1998). However, and in spite of the burgeoning interest in the consequences of systemic institutionalization, the issue of why party systems institutionalize (or not) in the first place still remains unclear.

Because a moderately institutionalized party system is essential for the good democratic quality of a polity, this research project aims at providing an answer to the question of how and why party systems institutionalize and/or de-institutionalize through a comparative analysis of 48 European democracies since the birth of "modern" democracy in the first half of the 19th century.

In particular, this project has three main objectives. First of all, to devise a new operationalization of party system institutionalization, which is both conceptually and empirically superior. Secondly, to examine how party systems have evolved from the moment of their formation. The main goal here is to understand how the process of institutionalization has affected the different party systems over time and, therefore, be able to classify those systems according to elections/periods on the basis of the various levels of institutionalization achieved. Thirdly, to determine the possible sources explaining the variance in the degree of institutionalization observed in European party systems across time.

In order to fulfill all the above-cited objectives, and after building a unique dataset containing information on the composition of European governments between 1848 and 2019 (), I will make use of a nested research design combining both quantitative and qualitative methods. The former will enable me to discover what factors have allowed party systems to institutionalize. The latter will help me to understand the causal mechanisms by which the different (relevant and significant) factors have affected the process of systemic institutionalization.

Recent Publications

  • CASAL B脡RTOA, F. and ENYEDI, Z., 2021. Party System Closure: Party Alliances, Government Alternatives, and Democracy in Europe Oxford University Press. (In Press.)
  • CASAL B脡RTOA, F. and RAMA CAAMA脩O, J., 2021. The Illness of Representative Democracy: Is There a Remedy? Journal of Democracy. (In Press.)
  • CASAL B脡RTOA, F. and RAMA CAAMA脩O, J., 2020. European Political Science Review.
  • ENYEDI, Z. and CASAL B脡RTOA, F., 2020. . In: Oxford Research Encyclopaedia of Politics Oxford University Press.

PhD. supervision

I am interested in supervising students who want to work in the following areas:

1. Party system closure/stability and party institutionalization

2. Political party (funding) regulation

3. Democratization and democracy promotion

Supervision as first supervisor of successfully completed Ph.D. theses

a) Anna Silander, "The Un-Taming of the Discourse: Radical right-wing populist parties and the effect of different institutional roles" (completed in November 2022)

Past Research

Re-conceptualizing Party Democracy ()

EUProfiler ()

EUANDI ()

Future Research

The Institutionalization of Asian Party System: Explaining Party Competition in 21 Democracies (1945-2020): https://whogovernsasia.com/

  • CASAL B脡RTOA, F. and ENYEDI, Z., 2021. Party System Closure: Party Alliances, Government Alternatives, and Democracy in Europe Oxford University Press. (In Press.)
  • CASAL B脡RTOA, F. and RAMA CAAMA脩O, J., 2021. The Illness of Representative Democracy: Is There a Remedy? Journal of Democracy. (In Press.)
  • CASAL B脡RTOA, F. and RAMA CAAMA脩O, J., 2020. European Political Science Review.
  • ENYEDI, Z. and CASAL B脡RTOA, F., 2020. . In: Oxford Research Encyclopaedia of Politics Oxford University Press.
  • CASAL B脡RTOA, F. and SPIROVA, M., 2019. Party Politics. 25(3), 233-244
  • CASAL B脡RTOA, F. and WEBER, T., 2019. Journal of Politics. 81(1), 233-245
  • CASAL B脡RTOA, F., 2019. European Politics and Society.
  • RAMA CAAMA脩O, J. and CASAL B脡RTOA, F., 2019. Representation.
  • CASAL B脡RTOA, F., 2018. Political Studies Review. 16(1), 60-72
  • ENYEDI, Z. and CASAL B脡RTOA, F., 2018. East European Politics and Societies. 32(3), 422-450
  • CASAL B脡RTOA, F. and BIEZEN, I. VAN, eds., 2018. Routledge.
  • CASAL B脡RTOA, F. and GUERRA, S., 2018. 鈥淓arthquake or Hurricane? The Rise and Fall of Populist Parties in Poland鈥. In: WOLINETZ, S. and ZASLOVE, A., eds., Absorbing the Blow. Populist Parties and Their Impact on Parties and Party Systems London/New York: Rowman and Littlefield.
  • RODR脥GUEZ TERUEL, J., BARBER脌, O., BARRIO, A. and CASAL B脡RTOA, F., 2018. From stability to change? The evolution of the party system in Spain. In: LISI, M., ed., Party System Change, the European Crisis and the State of Democracy Routledge.
  • CASAL B脡RTOA, FERNANDO, 2017. Sociological Methods and Research. 46(4), 683-714
  • CASAL B脡RTOA, FERNANDO, 2017. West European Politics. 40(2), 402-429
  • CASAL B脡RTOA, F. and BOURNE, A., 2017. European Journal of Political Research. 56(2), 440-465
  • BOURNE, A. and CASAL B脡RTOA, F., 2017. European Constitutional Law Review. 13(2), 221-247
  • CASAL B脡RTOA, F., DEEGAN-KRAUSE, K. and HAUGHTON, T., 2017. Electoral Studies. 50, 142-156
  • CASAL B脡RTOA, F., 2017. Separation, Divorce or Harakiri? The 鈥楥risis鈥 of Asian Democracies in Comparative Perspective Journal of Northeast Asian History. 14(2), 63-94
  • M脺LLER-ROMMEL, F. and CASAL B脡RTOA, F., eds., 2016. Party Politics and Democracy in Europe: Essays in Honour of Peter Mair Routledge.
  • CASAL B脡RTOA, F. and ENYEDI, Z., 2016. Party Politics. 22(3), 265-277
  • CASAL B脡RTOA, F., 2016. Party System Institutionalization: A Travelling Concept. In: M脺LLER-ROMMEL, F. and CASAL B脡RTOA, F., eds., Party Politics and Democracy in Europe: Essays in Honour of Peter Mair Routledge.
  • CASAL B脡RTOA, F. and TALESKI, D., 2016. Democratization. 23(3), 545-567
  • RODR脥GUEZ聽TERUEL, J. and CASAL B脡RTOA, F., 2016. Presupuesto y Gasto P煤blico. 82(1), 159-178
  • CASAL B脡RTOA, F. and SCHERLIS, G., eds., 2015. Partidos, Sistema de Partidos y Democracia: La Obra Esencial de Peter Mair EUDEBA.
  • CASAL B脡RTOA, F., 2014. Party Politics. 20(1), 16-36
  • CASAL B脡RTOA, F., PICCIO, D.R. and RASHKOVA, E.R., 2014. Party Laws in Comparative Perspective: Evidence and Implications. In: INGRID VAN BIEZEN and HANS-MARTIEN TEN NAPEL, eds., Regulating Political Parties: European Democracies in Comparative Perspective Leiden University Press.
  • CASAL B脡RTOA, F., MOLENAAR, F., PICCIO, D.R. and RASHKOVA, E.R., 2014. International Political Science Review. 35(3), 355-376
  • BIEZEN, I. VAN and CASAL B脡RTOA, F., 2014. South European Society and Politics. 19(1), 71-87
  • CASAL B脡RTOA, F., RODR脥GUEZ TERUEL, J., BARBER脌, O. and BARRIO, A., 2014. South European Society and Politics. 19(1), 89-112
  • CASAL B脡RTOA, F. and WALECKI, M., 2014. East European Politics. 30(3), 330-350
  • CASAL B脡RTOA, F., DEEGAN-KRAUSE, K. and U膶EN, P., 2014. East European Politics. 30(3), 351-371
  • CASAL B脡RTOA, F. and BIEZEN, I. VAN, 2014. East European Politics. 30(3), 295-314
  • CASAL B脡RTOA, F., 2013. Government and Opposition. 48(3), 398-433
  • CASAL B脡RTOA, F., 2012. East European Politics. 28(4), 452-472
  • CASAL B脡RTOA, F. and MAIR, P., 2012. Party System Institutionalization across Time in Post-Communist Europe. In: FERDINAND M脺LLER-ROMMEL and HANS KEMAN, eds., Party Government in the New Europe Routledge. 85-112
  • ENYEDI, Z. and CASAL B脡RTOA, F., 2011. Patterns of Inter-Party Competition (1990-2009). In: PAUL G. LEWIS and RADOSLAW MARKOWSKI, eds., Europeanizing Party Politics? Comparative Perspectives on Central and Eastern Europe Manchester University Press. 116-142
  • GHERGHINA, SERGIU, CHIRU, MICHAIL and CASAL B脡RTOA, FERNANDO, 2011. 鈥淩esursele statului 葯i bani de buzunar: Finan葲area partidelor politice rom芒ne葯ti 卯n perioada postcomunist膬鈥 [State Resources and Pocket Money: Funding of Romanian Political Parties during Post-communism]. In: GHERGHINA, SERGIU, ed., Voturi 葯i politici: dinamica partidelor rom芒ne葯ti 卯n ultimele dou膬 decenii [Votes and Policies; The Dynamic of the Romanian Political Parties in the most Recent Two Decades] Editura Institutul European.
  • ENYEDI, Z. and CASAL B脡RTOA, F., 2010. P谩rtverseny-mint谩zatok Kelet-K枚z茅p-Eur贸p谩ban, 1990-2008鈥 [Party System Configurations and Bloc Politics in Eastern-Central Europe, 1990-2008] Politikatudom谩nyi Szemle [Hungarian Political Science Review]. 19(1), 7-30
  • CASAL B脡RTOA, F., FERRIN, M. and PARDOS-PRADO, S., 2010. Spain. In: WOJCIECH GAGATEK, ed., The 2009 Elections to the European Parliament 鈥 Country Reports European University Institute. 165-169

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