# New people, new policy: How personnel renewal in the party executive affects party policy change. The case of Austria

## TL;DR

This paper examines how changes in leadership within Austrian political parties affect their policy positions over time.

## Contribution

It introduces personnel renewal in party executives as a key driver of policy change, independent of other factors.

## Key findings

- Personnel renewal in party executives significantly influences party policy shifts.
- These changes are partially driven by the party's performance outcomes.
- The study covers Austrian parties from 1949 to 2019, offering a long-term perspective.

## Abstract

The party organization literature has long acknowledged that changes in a party’s internal power structure bring about changes in leadership personnel. However, empirical assessments of how such personnel changes relate to party behavior are rare. We explore personnel renewal in the party executive as a driver of party policy change and argue that focusing on these processes provides for an encompassing perspective on the connection between intra-party power and party behavior. Building on the party change literature, we theorize on personnel renewal in the party executive as a potential stand-alone driver of party policy change as well as on its interplay with other explanatory factors and test empirical implications based on all major Austrian parties (1949–2019). Findings suggest that personnel renewal in the party executive has a profound effect on party policy and that these personnel changes are in part driven by party performance.