Causes of party conflicts in local politics

This article shows how two forms of party conflict (political dissent and antagonistic behaviour) are related but explained by different factors. It is therefore of utmost importance to distinguish between the two forms of conflict. Political dissent is mainly explained by the size of demos while social fragmentation, fiscal stress and party contestation increase antagonistic behaviour. The presence of a local protest party inflates both forms of conflict. Surprisingly, party contestation has less impact on conflict levels than earlier studies have suggested. The study builds on data from a unique survey conducted among all councillors in the 290 municipalities in Sweden.