Will a schism in a political party benefit the party?

Answer 1

A schism is a split or a division. Surely that hurts the party in the short run and n most cases would not ever benefit a party and could even destroy it.

In the longer-term, a party schism usually benefits the schismatic party as a whole, as it allows the new parties to adjust their ideology and determine which of the schism-causing ideologies enjoy broader support in the general populace. Party splits are rarely even close to balanced - usually, the "breakaway" section includes fewer than one-third the total party support. Both new parties are now capable of adjusting their ideology to attract new members which could not support the prior "hybrid" party. On an ideological scale of "Left" vs "Right", one faction will be closer to the middle than the other (call this one the "Moderates" and the other the "Radicals"). The Moderates will now be able to recruit members from the more center-leaning voters (who had previously objected to the policies that the Radicals had required in the old party). At the same time, the Radical section will be able to recruit people from the more extreme ideological leaning (who had previously objected to the more moderate views of the Moderate faction in the old party).

Overall, for a party experiencing significant internal dissention, a split will almost certainly benefit at least one faction. In a two-party system, the split will allow the more Moderate chuck to pick up Independents, and the Radical portion will likely wither and die shortly thereafter. In a multi-party system, both the Radical and Moderate factions will likely combine with other parties closer to their new ideology, which may or may not result in more support than in the original party.