Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Developing Party Structures in Central and Eastern Europe
- Albania: Organizations of Political Parties in Albania
- Belarus: Belarusian Political Parties: Organizational Structures and Practices
- Bosnia and Herzegovina: Organizational Structures of Political Parties in CEE Countries: A Case Study on Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bulgaria: Organizational Structure and Trends in Bulgarian Party Politics
- Croatia: Organizational Structures of Political Parties in Croatia
- Czech Republic: Between Organizational Extremes: Czech Parties after a Political Earthquake
- Estonia: Organizational Structures of Political Parties in Estonia
- Hungary: Cut from the Same Cloth? A Comparative Analysis of Party Organizations in Hungary
- Kosovo: Structure of the Main Political Parties in Kosovo
- Latvia: Leader-Centered and Power-Hungry: Party Organizations in Latvia
- Lithuania: Organization of Political Parties: The Case of Lithuania
- Moldova: Organizational Structures of Political Parties in The Republic of Moldova
- Montenegro: Party Organization in Montenegro: Structural Resemblance Behind Political Divergence
- Poland: Structures of Polish Political Parties in the Second Decade of the 21st Century
- Romania: The Internal Organization of Romanian Political Parties
- Russia: Parties with Roots Growing Upwards: Organizational Features of Russian Political Parties
- Serbia: Organizational Structures of Political Parties in Serbia
- Slovakia: Organizational Structures of Political Parties in Slovakia: Parties not for Members
- Slovenia: Almost without Any Innovations: Organizational Structures in Slovenian Parties
- Ukraine: Shallow Party Structures in a Volatile Party System
- Comparing Organizational Structures of Political Parties in Central and Eastern European Countries
- Biographical notes about the authors
Developing Party Structures in Central and Eastern Europe
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Developing Party Structures in Central and Eastern Europe
- Albania: Organizations of Political Parties in Albania
- Belarus: Belarusian Political Parties: Organizational Structures and Practices
- Bosnia and Herzegovina: Organizational Structures of Political Parties in CEE Countries: A Case Study on Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bulgaria: Organizational Structure and Trends in Bulgarian Party Politics
- Croatia: Organizational Structures of Political Parties in Croatia
- Czech Republic: Between Organizational Extremes: Czech Parties after a Political Earthquake
- Estonia: Organizational Structures of Political Parties in Estonia
- Hungary: Cut from the Same Cloth? A Comparative Analysis of Party Organizations in Hungary
- Kosovo: Structure of the Main Political Parties in Kosovo
- Latvia: Leader-Centered and Power-Hungry: Party Organizations in Latvia
- Lithuania: Organization of Political Parties: The Case of Lithuania
- Moldova: Organizational Structures of Political Parties in The Republic of Moldova
- Montenegro: Party Organization in Montenegro: Structural Resemblance Behind Political Divergence
- Poland: Structures of Polish Political Parties in the Second Decade of the 21st Century
- Romania: The Internal Organization of Romanian Political Parties
- Russia: Parties with Roots Growing Upwards: Organizational Features of Russian Political Parties
- Serbia: Organizational Structures of Political Parties in Serbia
- Slovakia: Organizational Structures of Political Parties in Slovakia: Parties not for Members
- Slovenia: Almost without Any Innovations: Organizational Structures in Slovenian Parties
- Ukraine: Shallow Party Structures in a Volatile Party System
- Comparing Organizational Structures of Political Parties in Central and Eastern European Countries
- Biographical notes about the authors
Summary
Although the activity of political parties is a popular and widely studied issue, the nature of their organizational structures receive relatively less attention. While most research is focused on Western Europe, since the countries of Central and Eastern Europe experienced the process of democratization, there appeared a number of studies concerning also parties in this part of Europe. Paul G. Lewis was among the first authors to take an interest in this field. In 1996 he edited Party Structure and Organization in East-Central Europe, which contained several case studies regarding party formation and organizational structures of: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, and even former East Germany. Even though written in the early phases of the democratic transition, reflections concerning the organizational aspects of party formation still prove valuable. Several years later P.G. Lewis authored Political Parties in Post-Communist Eastern Europe (2000). Chapter 4 of this book is devoted to organizational aspects of political parties in the region, and includes author's analysis of party structures, finances, factionalism and relationships between models of party organization in CEE and in established democracies.
Also relevant to the study of party organizational structures in CEE coun-tries are works by Ingrid van Biezen (2003) and Maria Spirova (2007). Van Biezen discusses the formation of political parties amidst democratic transition, with particular emphasis on their organization. Her research is based on examples from Southern Europe (Portugal and Spain), and Central and Eastern Europe (Czech Republic and Hungary). Spirova focuses on the formation, evolution, and organization of Bulgarian and Hungarian political parties. Apart from specifics, the book contains insightful general reflections on the organizational evolution of CEE political parties. For instance, she shows how politicians, at the beginning phases of post-communist party formation, did not stress the importance of organizational structures. Later however, they came to appreciate organization as a valuable asset to party functioning.
Another book containing chapters focusing on political parties in CEE, which includes some discussion of their organizational aspects, is Party Politics in New Democracies, edited by Paul Webb and Stephen White (2007). Likewise, Stephen D. Roper and Jānis Ikstens published a book in 2008 which discusses the question of party financing in post-communist countries. Other relevant papers also introduce and analyze theoretical models (Kopecký 1995; Szczerbiak 1999; Hanley 2001; Enyedi and Linek 2008), and touch on other aspects of party organization (Toole 2003; Tavits 2012a, 2012b; Gherghina 2014).
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- Organizational Structures of Political Parties in Central and Eastern European Countries , pp. 11 - 20Publisher: Jagiellonian University PressPrint publication year: 2017