The dominant party as a force transforming the political space

This paper is devoted to the study of the role of the dominant party in the transformation of the political space. The purpose of the article is to consider the trends in understanding the essence of the dominant party, the most important tools it uses to transform the political sphere, and to identify the features of the political process in the post-Soviet space. The author considers a dominant party to be one that has held leading positions in the party system for a significant period of time while maintaining signs of political competition. The emergence of dominant parties is associated with the desire of the political elite to strengthen its position in the legislative branch and is most often observed in countries experiencing "catch-up modernization". The article focuses on the analysis of the mechanisms by which the ruling party shapes the political agenda, institutions, and practices that determine the nature of political competition and citizen participation. The study is based on theoretical approaches to the analysis of party systems and empirical data on the functioning of the dominant party in a specific political context. The essence of the dominant party and the mechanisms of its impact on the political sphere are studied. The author defines the criteria characteristic of dominant parties in the post-Soviet countries, identifies their main features and substantiates the advantages of a party system with a single-party majority. Using the examples of Mexico, Japan and India, the author analyzes the features of party dominance in various political regimes. Despite the differences in context, the author identifies common characteristics inherent in dominant parties. Particular attention is paid to the fundamental difference between the concepts of "party in power" and "dominant party".

party, policy, power, tradition, party system, ideology, political process, elections, dominant, values