Party System Development Under Armenia’s New Constitution: Comparative Perspectives
2 min readYEREVAN, Armenia – On July 11th, the American University of Armenia (AUA) LL.M. program in partnership with the Apella Institute for Policy Analysis and Dialogue hosted a lecture by Dr. Fernando Casal Bértoa on the perspectives of party system development in Armenia following the 2015 constitutional reforms.
Building on a comparative analysis of 46 countries, divided into 65 party systems, comprising up to 77 different regimes in Europe since 1848, the speaker concluded that non-parliamentary regimes are more risk-prone in the process of the institutionalization of democratic party systems. Moreover, taking into consideration other cases of change of government form (e.g. Moldova), Dr. Casal Bértoa stated, “In normal circumstances such as free and fair elections, following the constitutional reforms, the Armenian party system and Armenian political parties will become more stable over time.”
Dr. Casal Bertoa added, “This is an important, yet insufficient step for consolidation of democracy. At the end of the day, the experience of Southern European countries like Spain, Portugal, and Greece demonstrates that the quality of democracy can be low despite the highly institutionalized party systems.”
Dr. Casal Bértoa is a Research Fellow at the University of Nottingham and Research-theme Director of the Nottingham Interdisciplinary Centre for Economic and Political Research (NICEP) at the University of Nottingham. He is also the co-chair of the Council for European Studies (CES) “Political Parties, Party Systems, and Elections” Research Network. Since 2015, Dr. Casal Bértoa has joined Apella Institute as a Senior International Fellow. He is widely known for his work on comparative party systems and has authored a dozen of articles on the subject published in leading journals. His most recent book (co-edited) is Party Politics and Democracy in Europe: Essays in Honour of Peter Mair (Routledge, 2016).
Founded in 1991, the American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia and affiliated with the University of California. AUA provides US-style education in Armenia and the region, offering high-quality, graduate and undergraduate studies, encouraging civic engagement, and promoting public service and democratic values.
Dr. Fernando Casal Bértoa presenting his comparative analysis of up to 77 regimes.