That is a very good question as most of the literature focuses on parliamentary elites. Do you mean presidential bodies like "blue ribbon" commissions on, say, health care reform, or do you mean "truth and reconciliation" / official apology commissions?

I am looking for researches on national bodies/organs of political parties: executive commissions, executive committees, executive bureaus and son on, because I have a project about national executive commissions of Brazilian political parties.

If you are looking for party commissions and elections outside Brazil, there is a good piece on Romanian Social Democrat Party from Gherghina http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-9256.12007/full

Thanks a lot!

Pedro, Sorry to be late in responding. I don't know many recent works in this area, but there is a long tradition on the party as oligrachical organization (esp at the executive echelons) beginning with Tocqueville, Ostrogorski, Mosca, Weber and Michels through to more contemporary critiques of that position by Kitschelt (e.g., his work on the Green Party). In the American political development tradition, there is quite a bit of work on the transition in the late 19th century from a US party system dominated by local party machines to one dominated by the president and a national executive committee. This moment coincides with the advent of robust state bureaucratization. Check out especially Daniel Klinghard's 2010 book The Nationalization of American Political Parties, 1880-1896. I hope that helps. Best, Cedric

Of course, now I see you work a great deal on Michels! Your article in Sociologia and Politica looks impressive, as does your paper on the applicability of the cartel party thesis to Brazil.

Thanks. I’m trying to develop a model to empirical tests of Michels’ law, applicable not only in political parties. The full article will be published shortly in the Brazilian Journal of Social Sciences (RBCS). A preview is attached. 

Moreover, in a recent article I did an analysis of the Brazilian party system in the light of the cartel party model. The conclusion is that it is very difficult to occur a process of cartelization in the country. In theoretical terms, I argue that the model (to keep its empirical validity) should be restricted to its basic core: cooperation between parties in a systemic level, without inferences about individual organizational models.

Pedro, I have work in Costa Rica on the relationship between parties and bureocratic clientelism. I take the case of diplomatic service . You can read a short article in my Research Gate page. It is clear, in Costa Rica case, that some important post are reserve to relevant figures of the Costa Rican parties.  

Carlos, muchas gracias por la información. Hablas del texto "Clientelismo y sistema político...", sí?

es correcto. Conoce de un trabajo que toque el mismo tema en Brasil?

Saludos, 

Pedro,

For distinct approaches, see Angelo Panebianco's book, Political Parties: Organization and Power; Katz and Mair's 1995 article in Party Politics (full cite: Katz, Richard S., and Peter Mair. "Changing models of party organization and party democracy the emergence of the cartel party." Party politics 1.1 (1995): 5-28); and William Heller's recent work (e.g., “Bicameralism and the Logic of Party Organization” (with Julie VanDusky-Allen). Comparative Political Studies 47(5, April 2014):715–742. )

All best

Carol 

Thanks a lot.

Sí, yo conozco un gran libro, pero es sólo sobre el siglo 19: "Clientelismo e política no Brasil do século XIX", de Richard Graham (hay versión en inglés)

Saludos.