Description

After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 political parties in Central and Eastern Europe were perceived negatively by the general public. Indeed, mobilization against them even became a source of legitimacy for new civil movements. In 1990, the Civic Forum, led by Václav Havel, won the first free election in Czechoslovakia using the slogan: ‘Parties are for party members, the Civic Forum is for everyone.’ In Poland, 27 parties were represented in parliament after the first democratic elections, which provided little hope of producing a stable government. It might be surprising to read that today, most of the countries studied have relatively vibrant party systems.

Written by four researchers from the Institute for Comparative Research at Masaryk University in Brno in the Czech Republic, Political Parties in Central and Eastern Europe: In Search of Consolidation analyzes the party systems in Central and Eastern Europe, focusing on external regulation, internal functioning, women’s participation and the impact of different electoral systems on the development of the party system. This publication detailed information about the state of political parties in this region and includes individual profiles of 18 countries: Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia (FYROM), Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Political Parties in Central and Eastern Europe: In Search of Consolidation describes the current state of party politics. The report identifies some common regional problems as well as issues faced by particular countries. It also recommends reforms.

The report is based on International IDEA’s extensive "Research and Dialogue with Political Parties” programme and is the third publication of a series. Reports on political parties in Africa and South Asia are also available.

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Authors: Vera Stojarová, Jakub Šedo, Lubomír Kopecek and Roman Chytilek
Contributors: Roger Hällhag, Matthias Catón, Maja Tjernström

Table of Contents

Chapters:

• About the Project and Methodology
• Regional Analysis – Party System
• External Regulations
• Internal Functioning
• Women’s political participation
• Region-Specific Issues
• Country profiles
• Conclusions and Way Forward

Appendices
List of Parties/Coalitions and Abbreviations
Non-Party Abbreviations
Selected Bibliography

Other Languages

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