Kay Lawson
Professor Emerita of Political Science, San Francisco State University

Key Concepts in Her Work

Linkage by Party 

 

          First developed in her introductory chapter to Political Parties and Linkage (Yale, 1980),  then applied and further developed throughout her subsequent work on political parties, the term linkage is used by Lawson  to describe how political parties connect citizens to the state, not always in positive ways.  She identifies six forms of linkage by party: Participatory, responsive, clientelistic, coercive, revolutionary and market (the last two may be found  in her “Conclusion” to Political Parties and Democracy; see Books).

 

Dedemocratization

 

Lawson uses the term dedemocratization to indicate that modern democracies are becoming less democratic over times.  She developed  this usage first in an article written in 2010 (with Mildred Schwartz) and then more extensively in her conclusion to Political Parties and Democracy, 2010.  In the latter work she identifies three types  of dedemocratization by party: proactive, complicit,  and retreative.  She further identifies three subtypes of  complicit dedemocratization:  unconscious,  venal and ideological. 

 

The concept of dedemocratization will be given wider development and application in the book Lawson is working on at present, see Work in Progress. 

 

Website Builder