"To Enter Or Not To Enter: That Is Not The Question" Substitutable Strategies For New Party Entry.

This paper sees new party entry as one potential outcome of a broader game. This broader game is the puzzle which confronts democratic citizens who care about an issue that existing parties are ignoring. What is the most effective way for them to make their voices heard? The formal model introduced here takes new party entry as a strong signal of strength from political entrepreneurs, which increases the salience of the issue by forcing major parties to respond to a new electoral threat. The model also examines how under different institutional, strategic, and sociological circumstances, interest group entry may surpass party entry as the optimal signal to major parties that an issue requires attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]