A Divided Nation: Polarization and the Two-Party System in Malta

Abstract

Abstract Since the early 1970s, Malta has possessed one of the purest two-party systems in the developed world. Malta's party system influences and is influenced by the intense political polarization of Maltese society, but it has also been shaped by other factors. This article explores these influences, by reviewing the party political, institutional and socio-cultural framework that characterizes Maltese politics. In so doing, it addresses the question why Malta, as a small and ethnically homogeneous state, is so politically divided. It is argued that while socio-cultural and institutional factors help to account for the origins of polarization in Maltese politics, the consolidation of the two-party system is explained by the internal nature of post-Independence party politics, and more specifically by the response of the two main parties to the challenges that arose from this critical juncture in Maltese history.