Entrepreneurial party
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

An business-firm party, entrepreneurial party, or personal party is a type of
political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...
that is centered on a charismatic
political entrepreneur The term political entrepreneur may refer to any of the following: * Someone (usually active in the fields of either politics or business) who founds a new political project, group, or political party * A businessman who seeks to gain profit throu ...
, most often created by that person to further their own interests.


Definition

It can be considered "the most extreme case of party personalization, consisting in the full control by an individual leader of the party he has himself created", in the words of political scientist Mauro Calise. A business-firm party is modeled off the top-down organizational structure of a
corporation A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and r ...
as opposed to operating on the basis of internal party democracy. The party structure is related to the older type of
elite party An elite party is a political party consisting of members of the societal elite, particularly members of parliament, who agree to co-operate politically in the spirit of principles and goals. Elite parties form as groupings of elite members part ...
, but is even more strongly
oligarchic Oligarchy (; ) is a conceptual form of power structure in which power rests with a small number of people. These people may or may not be distinguished by one or several characteristics, such as nobility, fame, wealth, education, or corporate, r ...
in form, as the political entrepreneur maintains complete control of the party's assets. The entrepreneur controls all aspects of the party's platform and campaigning, plays the ultimate role in selecting candidates to run in elections, managing the party's resources, and wielding party discipline over other politicians in the party. One characteristic distinguishing them from other parties is that the party organization is either dormant or limited outside of campaign seasons, and members are actively discouraged from becoming more involved in the party, therefore leading entrepreneurial parties to lack
grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or economic movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from the local level to effect change at t ...
capacity. Entrepreneurial parties may have only one member, the party leader (as in the case of
Party for Freedom The Party for Freedom ( nl, Partij voor de Vrijheid, PVV) is a nationalist, right-wing populist political party in the Netherlands. Founded in 2006 as the successor to Geert Wilders' one-man faction in the House of Representatives, it won nine ...
or the
Ticino League The Ticino League ( it, Lega dei Ticinesi) is a regionalist, national-conservative political party in Switzerland active in the canton of Ticino. The party was founded in 1991 by entrepreneur Giuliano Bignasca and journalist Flavio Maspoli. Af ...
), or very few aside from politicians. The Party for Freedom initially did not recruit members out of fear of infiltration by the far-right; later, deputy leader
Martin Bosma Martin Bosma (born 16 July 1964) is a Dutch politician and former journalist serving as a member of the House of Representatives for the Party for Freedom (PVV) since 30 November 2006 and as Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives since 2 ...
said that a party membership structure interfered with direct accountability between party leadership and voters. In a completely memberless business-firm party, volunteers, donors, and officeholders invest time, money, and their reputation (if the party is controversial) without any formal say in the party's operations.


Causes and effects

More monocratic systems of government, such as
presidential systems A presidential system, or single executive system, is a form of government in which a head of government, typically with the title of president, leads an executive branch that is separate from the legislative branch in systems that use separation ...
, tend to encourage the formation of personal parties while the personalization of politics fuels the centralization of power. Entrepreneurial parties tend to be short-lived and rarely outlast their founders, except where the entrepreneur is successful in using his charisma to build a mass-membership party, as in the case of the True Finns. Due to the lack of grassroots mobilization, leader-oriented parties may be less successful in local and regional politics, which are more distant from the charismatic leader, as occurred with ANO 2011 and
Forza Italia Forza ItaliaThe name is not usually translated into English: ''forza'' is the second-person singular imperative of ''forzare'', in this case translating to "to compel" or "to press", and so means something like "Forward, Italy", "Come on, Ital ...
. Entrepreneurial parties are commonly
far-right Far-right politics, also referred to as the extreme right or right-wing extremism, are political beliefs and actions further to the right of the left–right political spectrum than the standard political right, particularly in terms of being ...
,
nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
, and/or populist. However, another tendency is not to have a firm
ideology An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones." Formerly applied pri ...
and instead closely follow
opinion polls An opinion poll, often simply referred to as a survey or a poll (although strictly a poll is an actual election) is a human research survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions ...
while being vague or self-contradictory on the party's standpoint. Tatiana Kostadinova and Barry Levitt argue that in a personalist party, "interactions between the leader and other politicians are driven mainly by loyalty to that leader rather than, for example, organizational rules, ideological affinities, or programmatic commitments". Business-firm parties are likely to emerge in
new democracies New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
and in situations of high electoral volatility. They may also result from declines in political participation and membership in traditional parties. In central Europe, entrepreneurial parties have formed as a type of
state capture State capture is a type of systemic political corruption in which private interests significantly influence a state's decision-making processes to their own advantage. The term was first used by the World Bank, around the year 2000, to describe ...
where state powers are used for private benefit. Entrepreneurial parties are especially common in Latin America.


Constitutionality

The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany requires that political parties "conform to democratic principles" in their internal organization. When the Socialist Reich Party was banned in 1952, the Federal Constitutional Court's judgement stated: "If a party's internal organization does not correspond to democratic principles, one may generally conclude that the party seeks to impose upon the state the structural principles that it has implemented within its own organization." The constitutions of
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
,
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
,
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
, and
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
include similar provisions. Israeli jurist argues that non-democratically organized parties are undesirable because "There is a greater likelihood of the pursuit of nondemocratic goals in parties that have a nondemocratic structure."


Examples


Asia


Indonesia

*
Perindo The Indonesian Unity Party ( id, Partai Persatuan Indonesia, Partai Perindo) is a political party in Indonesia. The party was founded on 7 February 2015 by media tycoon Hary Tanoesoedibjo, owner of the MNC Group and business partner of former US ...
( Hary Tanoesoedibjo)


Israel

* Hayamin Hahadash,
Yamina Yamina or Yemina (; ) is an Israeli political alliance of right-wing parties that originally included the New Right and the Union of Right-Wing Parties (a union of The Jewish Home and Tkuma). The current incarnation of the alliance include ...
(
Naftali Bennett Naftali Bennett ( he, נַפְתָּלִי בֶּנֶט, Transliterated: , ; born 25 March 1972) is an Israeli politician who served as the 13th prime minister of Israel from 13 June 2021 to 30 June 2022, and as the 3rd Alternate Prime Minist ...
) *
Kachol Lavan Blue and White ( he, כָּחוֹל לָבָן ''Kaḥol Lavan'') is a centrist and Liberalism, liberal political alliance in Israel. It was established by the Israel Resilience Party, Yesh Atid and Telem (2019 political party), Telem to run in ...
, Israel Resilience Party, Hamachane Hamamlachti (
Benny Gantz Benjamin Gantz ( he, בִּנְיָמִין "בֵּנִי" גַּנְץ, Transliterated: ; born 9 June 1959) is an Israeli politician and retired army general serving as the minister of Defense since 2020 and deputy prime minister of Israel sin ...
) *
Yesh Atid Yesh Atid ( he, יֵשׁ עָתִיד, , There Is a Future) is a liberal political party in Israel. Founded by Yair Lapid in 2012, it seeks to represent what it considers the centre of Israeli society: the secular middle class. It focuses prima ...
( Yair Lapid) * Yisrael Beiteinu ( Avigdor Lieberman) *
Kulanu Kulanu ( he, כולנו, lit. ''All of Us'') was a centrist political party in Israel founded by Moshe Kahlon that focused on economic and cost-of-living issues. History The party was established on 27 November 2014 following months of specu ...
( Moshe Kahlon) *
Hatnua Hatnua ( he, הַתְּנוּעָה, lit=''The Movement'') was a liberal political party in Israel formed by former Israeli Foreign Minister and Vice Prime Minister Tzipi Livni to present an alternative to voters frustrated by the stalemate in th ...
(
Tzipi Livni Tziporah Malka "Tzipi" Livni ( he, ציפי (ציפורה) מלכה לבני, ; born 8 July 1958) is an Israeli politician, diplomat, and lawyer. A former member of the Knesset and leader in the center-left political camp, Livni is a former fore ...
)


Thailand

* Thai Rak Thai Party (
Thaksin Shinawatra Thaksin Shinawatra ( th, ทักษิณ ชินวัตร; ; ; Chinese: 丘達新; cnr, Taksin Šinavatra; born 26 July 1949), is a Thai businessman, politician and visiting professor. He served in the Thai Police from 1973 to 1987, a ...
)


Turkey

* Rights and Equality Party *
Young Party The Young Party ( tr, Genç Parti, GP) is a populist political party in Turkey. The GENÇPARTİ does not have a chairperson officially. History 2002 elections Cem Uzan entered politics 90 days before the 2002 elections. Young Party was not ...


Africa


Lesotho

* Revolution for Prosperity under Sam Matekane's leadership


Europe


Austria

* Freedom Party of Austria under Jörg Haider's leadership * Team Stronach for Austria (
Frank Stronach Frank Stronach (born 6 September 1932) is an Austrian and Canadian businessman and politician. He is the founder of Magna International, an international automotive parts company based in Aurora, Ontario, Canada, Granite Real Estate, and The ...
)


Belgium

*
Lijst Dedecker Libertarian, Direct, Democratic ( nl, Libertair, Direct, Democratisch; LDD) is a conservative-liberal, libertarian, right-wing populist Flemish political party in Belgium. The party surprised commentators by winning five seats in the Chamber and ...
(
Jean-Marie Dedecker Jean-Marie Louis Dedecker (born 13 June 1952) is a Belgian politician. In 1999 and 2003, Dedecker was directly elected to the Belgian Senate for the Flemish Liberals and Democrats (VLD). In 2004 Dedecker ran for a seat in the Flemish Parliament ...
)


Czech Republic

* Public Affairs (
Vít Bárta Vít Bárta (born 5 December 1973) is a Czech politician and businessman who served as Minister of Transport from 2010 to 2011 and as Member of the Chamber of Deputies (MP) from 2010 to 2013. Bárta also led political party Věci veřejné dur ...
) * ANO 2011 (
Andrej Babiš Andrej Babiš (; born 2 September 1954) is a Czech politician and businessman of Slovak descent who served as the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic from 2017 to 2021. Babis previously served as the Minister of Finance and deputy Prime Minister ...
) *
Dawn of Direct Democracy Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the diffuse sky radiation, appearance of indirect sunlight being Rayleigh scattering, scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc h ...
(
Tomio Okamura is a Czech politician and entrepreneur of Moravian Wallachian, Japanese and Korean ethnicity. He founded the Czech political parties Dawn of Direct Democracy and Freedom and Direct Democracy (SPD). Since October 2013, he has been a member of the ...
) * Freedom and Direct Democracy (Okamura)


Finland

* True Finns


France

*
National Rally The National Rally (french: Rassemblement National, ; RN), until 2018 known as the National Front (french: link=no, Front National, ; FN), is a Far-right politics, far-rightAbridged list of reliable sources that refer to National Rally as fa ...


Hungary

* Fidesz (
Viktor Orbán Viktor Mihály Orbán (; born 31 May 1963) is a Hungarian politician who has served as prime minister of Hungary since 2010, previously holding the office from 1998 to 2002. He has presided over Fidesz since 1993, with a brief break between 20 ...
)


Italy

*
Forza Italia Forza ItaliaThe name is not usually translated into English: ''forza'' is the second-person singular imperative of ''forzare'', in this case translating to "to compel" or "to press", and so means something like "Forward, Italy", "Come on, Ital ...
(
Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; born 29 September 1936) is an Italian media tycoon and politician who served as Prime Minister of Italy in four governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a member of the Chamber of Deputies ...
) *
Popolo della Libertà The People of Freedom ( it, Il Popolo della Libertà, PdL) was a centre-right political party in Italy. The PdL, launched by Silvio Berlusconi on 18 November 2007, was initially a federation of political parties, notably including Forza Italia a ...
(Berlusconi) * Italy of Values ( Antonio Di Pietro)


Lithuania

* Labour Party


Netherlands

*
Pim Fortuyn List The Pim Fortuyn List ( nl, Lijst Pim Fortuyn, LPF) was a political party in the Netherlands named after its eponymous founder Pim Fortuyn, a former university professor and political columnist. The party was considered populist, right-wing popul ...
*
Party for Freedom The Party for Freedom ( nl, Partij voor de Vrijheid, PVV) is a nationalist, right-wing populist political party in the Netherlands. Founded in 2006 as the successor to Geert Wilders' one-man faction in the House of Representatives, it won nine ...
( Geert Wilders)


Norway

* Progress Party (
Anders Lange Anders Sigurd Lange (5 September 1904 – 18 October 1974) was a Norway, Norwegian political organiser, speaker and editor who led his eponymously named political party Anders Lange's Party for a Strong Reduction in Taxes, Duties and Public In ...
)


Poland

*
Modern Modern may refer to: History * Modern history ** Early Modern period ** Late Modern period *** 18th century *** 19th century *** 20th century ** Contemporary history * Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century Phil ...
(
Ryszard Petru Ryszard Jerzy Petru (born 6 July 1972, in Wrocław, Poland) is a Polish politician. He served as an assistant to several members of parliament in the 1990s. He has worked as an economist for the World Bank, PricewaterhouseCoopers and several Poli ...
) * Kukiz'15 ( Paweł Kukiz) *
Palikot Movement Your Movement ( pl, Twój Ruch, which can also be translated as ''Your Move'', TR) is a social liberal, populist and anti-clerical political party in Poland. The party was founded by Janusz Palikot, a former Civic Platform MP, in October 2010 a ...
( Janusz Palikot)


Romania

*
People's Party – Dan Diaconescu The People's Party – Dan Diaconescu ( ro, Partidul Poporului – Dan Diaconescu; abbreviated PP-DD) was a populist political party in Romania created in 2011 by television presenter Dan Diaconescu. In June 2015 it merged into the National Unio ...


Slovakia

* We Are Family ( Boris Kollár) *
Ordinary People and Independent Personalities Ordinary People and Independent Personalities) ( sk, Obyčajní ľudia a nezávislé osobnosti) is a conservative political party in Slovakia. The anti-establishment party founded in 2011 won the 2020 parliamentary election on an anti-corrupt ...
(
Igor Matovič Igor Matovič (born May 11, 1973) is a Slovak politician and former businessman. He previously served as Deputy Prime Minister of Slovakia and Minister of Finance from April 2021 to December 2022 and Prime Minister from March 2020 to March 2021. ...
)


Spain

* Union of the Democratic Centre ( Adolfo Suárez)


Switzerland

*
Ticino League The Ticino League ( it, Lega dei Ticinesi) is a regionalist, national-conservative political party in Switzerland active in the canton of Ticino. The party was founded in 1991 by entrepreneur Giuliano Bignasca and journalist Flavio Maspoli. Af ...
(
Giuliano Bignasca Giuliano Bignasca (10 April 1945 – 7 March 2013) was a Swiss people, Swiss politician, who was a co-founder of the Ticino League. Early life and family Bignasca was born in Lugano in May 1945, and grew up in the Sonvico quarter. In 1963, Bi ...
)


Oceania


Australia

*Tasmanian Independent Senator Brian Harradine Group ( Brian Harradine) * John Madigan's Manufacturing and Farming Party *
Katter's Australian Party Katter's Australian Party (KAP) is an agrarian political party in Australia. It was founded by Bob Katter, an independent and former Nationals MP for the seat of Kennedy, with a registration application lodged to the Australian Electoral Co ...
( Bob Katter) * Palmer United Party ( Clive Palmer) *
Glenn Lazarus Team Glenn Patrick Lazarus (born 11 December 1965) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer, and a former Australian Senator. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative , Lazarus won premier ...
(
Glenn Lazarus Glenn Patrick Lazarus (born 11 December 1965) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer, and a former Australian Senator. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative , Lazarus won premier ...
) *
Jacqui Lambie Network The Jacqui Lambie Network (JLN) is a political party in Australia, formed in May 2015. Bearing the name of its founder, Tasmanian Senator Jacqui Lambie, it has served as the political vehicle for the former independent. The JLN was formed to al ...
( Jacqui Lambie)


South America


Peru

*
Cambio 90 Cambio 90 (lit. ''Change 90'', C90) was a Peruvian right-wing political party which entered the political spectrum in early 1990, and throughout the 1990s until late-2000 was the most powerful political party in Peru alongside New Majority, ser ...
(
Alberto Fujimori Alberto Kenya Fujimori Inomoto ( or ; born 28 July 1938) is a Peruvian politician, professor and former engineer who was President of Peru from 28 July 1990 until 22 November 2000. Frequently described as a dictator, * * * * * * he remains a ...
) *
Sí Cumple Sí Cumple (approximate translation: "Keep Promises" or "He Delivers"), until 2005 called Let's Go Neighbor ( es, link=yes, Vamos Vecino, VV), was a political party of Peru founded by Alberto Fujimori in 1998 in order for the party to participate ...
(Fujimori) *
Peru 2000 Peru 2000 ( es, Perú 2000, link=Yes) was a Peruvian right-wing political alliance that fielded candidates for the 2000 general elections. Alberto Fujimori and his political allies ran on the Peru 2000 ticket in which, Fujimori was triumphant in ...
(Fujimori)


See also

*
Authoritarian leadership style An authoritarian leadership style is exemplified when a leader dictates policies and procedures, decides what goals are to be achieved, and directs and controls all activities without any meaningful participation by the subordinates. Such a leader ...
* Trumpism


References


Further reading

* * *{{cite journal , last1=Krašovec , first1=Alenka , title=A Hint at Entrepreneurial Parties? The Case of Four New Successful Parties in Slovenia , journal=Politologický časopis - Czech Journal of Political Science , date=2017 , volume=XXIV , issue=2 , pages=158–178 , doi=10.5817/PC2017-2-158 , id={{CEEOL, 536735 , language=en , issn=1211-3247 Ethically disputed political practices Types of political parties