Factionalism and vertical integration in multilevel contexts. The case of the Basque Nationalist Party

Abstract

The determinants of the distinct levels of party vertical integration and their influence on internal factions’ strategies have been certainly understudied so far, and those few works attempting to do it have focused on statewide political parties. Here we claim that party organization eventually affects the behavior of internal factions, so that factionalism will have a more territorial character in parties with low levels of vertical integration than in the rest. This argument is then illustrated with empirical evidence from one non-statewide party: the Basque Nationalist Party