Political parties in multi-layered systems

The language used to analyse party behaviour is intrinsically single-level in nature. Recent processes of institutional reform undertaken across Europe - prompting the development of meaningful party competition at the non-statewide level - have had little influence in altering this discourse. There is therefore an urgent need to develop nuanced frameworks suitable for understanding party activity in different electoral arenas. Most of the literature on party behaviour in multi-layered systems thus far has been very much case-oriented (one party, one country, one region) or has focused rather superficially only on the electoral dimension. This article explores the conceptual problems that arise in analysing such questions, suggesting some solutions for identifying the most appropriate unit of analysis and for identifying and eventually measuring aspects of the multi-layered political systems where we might expect to see some direct effects on the functioning of political parties.