Political parties in parliamentary democracies: Making delegation and accountability work

In modern democracies political parties exist because (1) they reduce trans action costs in the electoral, parliamentary and governmental arenas and (2 ) help overcome the dilemma of collective action. In Western Europe politic al parties are the central mechanism to make the constitutional chain of po litical delegation and accountability work in practice. Party representativ es in public office are ultimately the agents of the extra-parliamentary pa rty organization. In order to contain agency loss parties rely on party-int ernal mechanisms and the institutionalisation of party rights in public rul es and, in contrast to US parties, they apply the full range of ex ante and ex post mechanisms. Generally, the role of party is weaker the further dow n the chain of delegation.