dc.description.abstract | After reviewing existing literature on party government, this article identifies the main information gaps regarding this topic. St points out the most important elements that a systematic study on government-party relationships cannot overlook. The underlying question the author asks is who, in fact, governs in modern Western democracies-ruling parties or national executives? To answer this question, the author establishes a series of institutional variables, such as form of government, type of party and electoral system, among others. Next, depending on these characteristics, he constructs a typology on the forms that the government-party relationship can assume in terms of the greater or lesser autonomy of the former vis-a-vis the latter. Most of the study is devoted to suggesting an analytical strategy allowing for a comparative study on the topic. | |