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Explaining Hamas's Changing Electoral Strategy, 1996–2006

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 March 2013

Frode Løvlie
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Abstract

Hamas, the most influential Islamist party in the occupied Palestinian territories, replaced its strategy of electoral boycott in 1996 with participation in 2006 – a change that is not explained in the literature. Assisted by theories of party change, the article seeks to fill this gap. The article demonstrates that the move from boycott to participation can largely be attributed to a change of dominant coalition. In line with the theoretical assumptions, environmental challenges and shocks altered the power–balance within Hamas, robbing the coalition dominating at the time of the boycott of its power and allowing a new faction to obtain dominance. This new dominant faction saw political participation as a legitimate avenue to pursue Hamas's cause, and its rise to power secured the change of strategy and participation in the 2006 elections.

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Government and Opposition , Volume 48 , Issue 4 , October 2013 , pp. 570 - 593
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Copyright © Government and Opposition Ltd 2013 

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Footnotes

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Frode Løvlie is a researcher at Chr. Michelsen Institute and a PhD candidate in the Department of Comparative Politics at the University of Bergen. Contact email: frode.lovlie@cmi.no.

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