Political parties and democratic consolidation in East Central Europe

Research output: Working paper/PreprintWorking paper

Abstract (may include machine translation)

The thesis of this paper is that the presence of well institutionalized political parties is not a must for democratic consolidation. The evidence in support comes from surveys in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, and from electoral data. The paper examines in turn the definition and evidence concerning electoral volatility, the age and organizational style of parties, party fragmentation, the stability of electoral institutions, the links between social groups and political parties, and the programmatic structuration of party competition. It concludes that democracy is being consolidated in East Central Europe before parties are being institutionalized, and that the subsequent institutionalization of parties is desirable as a means to improve the quality of democracy.
Original languageEnglish
Place of PublicationGlasgow
PublisherCentre for the Study of Public Policy, University of Stratchlyde
Pages1-75
Number of pages76
StatePublished - 1997

Publication series

NameCSPP Studies in public policy
No.279

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