PUBLIC PARTY FUNDING AND PARTY TRANSFORMATION IN MULTIPARTY SYSTEMS

This article analyzes the changes in the Israeli party system since the inception of public party funding in 1969 and compares them with party transformations elsewhere with a view to comparing the intended and the actual impacts of such funding on multiparty systems. Although the overall effect is in line with the catch-all thesis of Kirchheimer, Epstein, and others, there are important potential consequences that run counter to it. Chief among them is the greater facility of ideological and sectional new parties to establish themselves. The result can be a far-reaching structural transformation of the party system, with voters presented with a wide choice of competing ideological and catch-all parties.