The Benefits of Conflict: How Factions Can Enhance Political Parties’ Electoral Performance (INTRAPARTY)

Political parties and voters form key relationships in democracies. While it's often said that divided parties lose elections, the evidence is mixed. Factions differ widely, and some may actually help parties by representing broader segments of society. Yet, their impact on electoral outcomes is underexplored. This comparative project examines when and how factions can positively affect party performance in Europe. It challenges conventional wisdom and offers new theoretical and empirical insights. The project builds a theory of factional influence, showing how factions balance pressure without harming the party. It also uses a novel dataset and survey experiments to test how voters respond to factions across European democracies.