New Party Entrance : The case of BE and PAN in Portugal

Abstract: Back in 2012, Niklas Bolin offered an innovative perspective on the importance of agency for new party entrance. With his doctoral thesis he concluded that the ownership of at least one non-mainstream position and the possession of certain party resources were two necessary conditions for new parties to reach parliament membership. This investigation aimed to test his findings with the analysis of the only two cases of new party entrance in the Portuguese democracy since the end of the consolidation period: the Left Bloc (BE) in 1999 and PessoasAnimais-Natureza (PAN) in 2015. The thesis concludes that in one hand both parties emphasized “unique” issues in their electoral programs. On the other hand, some party resources proved to have greater importance than others for this case: both parties had low levels of membership, limited leadership and considerable financial funds when compared to similar size parties. Finally, regarding media exposure while BE managed to gain some space within the traditional channels, PAN relied solely on social media. As a result, this study corroborates both the current tendency for a decline in the number and importance of party affiliates and the equalization theory regarding the opportunities of the Internet for small parties as a more equal space for party competition.