SISC webinar: Political parties, democratic dilemmas and trade-offs for group representation

Event Date: 20 May 2026

Speaker: Professor Zoe Greene, Professor of Politics in the University of Strathclyde

Time: 12.30pm-1.30pm

Location: Level 8, StrathUnion, University of Strathclyde

Dr Zoe Greene will be exploring the causes and consequences of intra-party politics for elections, government behaviour and public policy (hybrid event).

Abstract:

Diverse groups and communities struggle to influence politics in historic democracies. The criticism often goes that major organisations such as the UK Labour or Conservative parties pay only lip-service to community demands and fail to deliver meaningful reforms in practice. Political parties themselves struggle to keep up with increasing social and economic diversity, widescale political apathy and technological reforms that further encourage a winner-take-all approach to politics. Furthermore, many of the most commonly discussed solutions also lead politicians to treat major decisions using a zero-sum approach that treats compromise and consensus as a negative outcome. In this presentation, I’ll outline a political science framework for understanding these challenges and highlight evidence from voter surveys, political party decisions and ultimately government policy-making in a range of European countries. This evidence will highlight both the difficulties for community influence and the tradeoffs that come with technological and institutional reforms. Institutional reformers, therefore, should carefully weigh how to improve group representation while avoiding the risk of making democratic politics more chaotic, more polarised, and ultimately less responsive to the communities they serve.

Please note: The room will be open from 12:00 to 14:00 to allow for attendees who would like to bring their own lunch/tea and coffee and for informal networking before and after the seminar (12:00-12:30 and 13:30-14:00). To sign up please do so via the Eventbrite page here.

For online attendees, a link will be sent with details on how to join the event remotely if you sign up on Eventbrite.

Published: 30 April 2026