Political dynasties and democracy
a conceptual proposal
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31990/agenda.2021.3.6Keywords:
Political Dynasties, Democratization, Subnational, Comparative PoliticsAbstract
The transfer of power between family members is common in monarchies or traditional political systems and the existence of political dynasties is normally associated with patrimonial forms of rule. In contrast, it is usually assumed that political dynasties should not be very frequent in a democracy, where political competition and electoral alternation are supposed to prevail. However, political dynasties are more common than we imagine in contemporary democracies. Even if we do not see them so often at the head of national governments, they prevail at the subnational level. This article offers a novel perspective and presents a conceptual framework for the study of political dynasties in subnational executives. The conceptual contribution involves the development of the concept of political dynasty and its differentiation from two related concepts: that of political family and nepotism. At the same time, the article discusses the main theories that have been developed to explain the existence of political dynasties in contemporary democracies.
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