Discredited successor parties must break with the past early to regain power

Evidence

For that to happen, the iron conviction has to have been formed that a particular solution of the vital problems is necessary. Without this conviction the second element will not be formed. This element can the more easily be destroyed in that it is numerically weak, but it is essential that if it is destroyed it should leave as its heritage a ferment from which it may be recreated. And where could this ferment better be formed and subsist than in the first and third elements, which, obviously, are the nearest in character to the second? The activity of the second element towards creating this ferment is therefore fundamental. The criteria by which the second element should be judged are to be sought; 1. in what it actually does; 2. in what provision it makes for the eventuality of its own destruction. It is difficult to say which of these two facts is the more important. Since defeat in the struggle must always be envisaged, the preparation of one’s own successors is as important as what one does for victory. — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 681 (#contradicts, via linked claim)

In general, the more proportional an electoral system, the more openings are available to political parties, even those that have been discredited by the past. — John T. Ishiyama, Party Organization and the Political…, 46 (#qualifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Discredited ancien regime parties can survive collapse and win power through regeneration — Anna M. Grzymala-Busse, Redeeming The Communist Past: The…, 46; Parties most needing to repudiate their past are least able to do it — Anna M. Grzymala-Busse, Redeeming The Communist Past: The…, 433; Successor party rebirth required time and an incumbent to contrast against — Anna M. Grzymala-Busse, Redeeming The Communist Past: The…, 971 (+9 more)

Related

• Proportional electoral rules enable even discredited parties to return (similarity 0.89)
• Discredited parties must transform organizationally and break with the past to regain power (similarity 0.89)
• Parties most needing to repudiate their past are least able to do it (similarity 0.87)
• Discredited incumbent parties had to prove democratic intent to voters and rivals alike (similarity 0.86)
• Successor party rebirth required time and an incumbent to contrast against (similarity 0.86)
• Expertise from an authoritarian past made successor parties valuable yet discredited partners (similarity 0.84)
• Communist successor parties repurposed legacies of past reform to gain democratic credibility. (similarity 0.84)
• Discredited ancien regime parties can survive collapse and win power through regeneration (similarity 0.84)
• Parties linked to hated collapsed regimes unexpectedly regained power (similarity 0.83)
• Moderation alone cannot rehabilitate discredited parties competing against credible anticommunist rivals (similarity 0.82)
• Discredited ancien regime actors can survive and succeed in new democratic orders. (similarity 0.82)
• A party’s transformative window for shedding its past closes quickly after crisis. (similarity 0.81)
• Without an established record, a party’s past largely shapes its reputation. (similarity 0.81)
• Successor party resurgence combined post-1989 conditions, communist legacies, and crafted appeals (similarity 0.81)
• A political element must prepare its own successors against its destruction (similarity 0.80)

Broader Connections

• A political element must prepare its own successors against its destruction #contradicts (0.80) — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 681
• Proportional electoral rules enable even discredited parties to return #qualifies (0.75) — John T. Ishiyama, Party Organization and the Political…, 46