The party´s objectives under authoritarian electoral regimes or fragile democracies: Two fronts game

Abstract

This article offers new theoretical analysis about party objectives and strategy in contexts of authoritarianism with elections and of fragile democracies. It provides a theoretical framework for understanding party behavior under authoritarian regimes that have competitive elections and under fragile democracies. Contexts of authoritarianism with competitive elections and fragile democracy alter party behavior and strategy. In these contexts, parties play two games: an electoral game in which their objective is to win votes or seats, and a regime game in which their objective is to influence the outcome of conflicts over political regimes. It is impossible to understand many Latin American parties without taking into account both objectives (winning elections and winning regime conflicts) and both games (the electoral game and the regime game). Key words: Politics party; party objectives; competitive elections; authoritarianism; democracy; special model; Anthony Downs; elections; christian democracy; Latin American.