Factions of Interest in Japan and Italy

Abstract

The classification and analysis of intra-party groups remain challenging despite several scholarly attempts. This article argues that intra-party groups vary along two important dimensions, one which describes their incentive structures (motivation) and one their degree of organization. The first dimension delineates the relative mixture of selective and collective incentives they offer, and the second dimension their organizational stability and sophistication. In brief, clienteles and factions of interest are based primarily on patronage, while tendencies and factions of principle are based primarily on policy beliefs. Both factions of interest and factions of principle are more highly developed organizationally than clienteles or tendencies. To illustrate, the article details the experience of factions in Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party and Italy’s Christian Democracy. It is shown how factions in both parties experienced shifts along the organizational and motivational dimensions and how they may best be classified.