New people, new policy: How personnel renewal in the party executive affects party policy change. The case of Austria

Author(s)
Matthias Kaltenegger, Wolfgang C. Müller
Abstract

The party organization literature has long acknowledged that changes in a party’s internal power structure bring about changes in leadership personnel. However, empirical assessments of how such personnel changes relate to party behavior are rare. We explore personnel renewal in the party executive as a driver of party policy change and argue that focusing on these processes provides for an encompassing perspective on the connection between intra-party power and party behavior. Building on the party change literature, we theorize on personnel renewal in the party executive as a potential stand-alone driver of party policy change as well as on its interplay with other explanatory factors and test empirical implications based on all major Austrian parties (1949–2019). Findings suggest that personnel renewal in the party executive has a profound effect on party policy and that these personnel changes are in part driven by party performance.

Organisation(s)
Department of Government
Journal
Party Politics
ISSN
1354-0688
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1177/13540688241293052
Publication date
2024
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
506014 Comparative politics
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Sociology and Political Science
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/new-people-new-policy-how-personnel-renewal-in-the-party-executive-affects-party-policy-change-the-case-of-austria(240807ad-2d3f-4c97-ac5c-4514ffbbd54b).html