Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T04:07:23.086Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Czech Stalemate? The Role of Party Organization for the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia since 2010

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 March 2020

Petar Bankov
Petar Bankov*
Affiliation:
Department of Politics, School of Social and Political Sciences, Room 401, Adam Smith Building, University of Glasgow, GlasgowG12 8RT, UK. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Almost three decades after the regime change in Central and Eastern Europe, some of the political parties that were successors of the communists continue to enjoy important electoral support. This article makes an attempt to understand why this happens and focuses on the role of the party organization. It includes a qualitative analysis on the typical case of the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSČM) based on a series of semi-structured interviews with party cadres and independent researchers. These interviews reveal that the stable territorial distribution of their performance amidst significant electoral volatility since 2010 highlights an organizational impasse within the party.

Type
Articles
Information
European Review , Volume 28 , Issue 5 , October 2020 , pp. 826 - 841
Copyright
© Academia Europaea 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Baun, M and Marek, D (2006) Regional policy and decentralization in the Czech Republic. Regional and Federal Studies 16(4), 409–428.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bozoki, A and Ishiyama, JT (eds) (2002) The Communist Successor Parties of Central and Eastern Europe. Armonk: Sharpe.Google Scholar
Czech Statistical Office (2018) Elections.Google Scholar
Forbrig, J and Demeš, P (2007) Reclaiming Democracy: Civil Society and Electoral Change in Central and Eastern Europe. Washington: German Marshall Fund of the United States.Google Scholar
Gherghina, S (2014) Party Organization and Electoral Volatility in Central and Eastern Europe: Enhancing Voter Loyalty. London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gherghina, S, Iancu, A and Soare, S (eds) (2018) Party Members and their Importance in Non-EU Countries. A Comparative Analysis. London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grzymala-Busse, A (2002) Redeeming the Communist Past. The Regeneration of Communist Parties in East Central Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harmel, R and Janda, K (1982) Parties and Their Environments. Limits to Reform. New York: Longman.Google Scholar
Holubec, S (2011) The Czech radical left. In Daiber, B, Hildebrandt, C and Striethorst, A (eds), From Revolution to Coalition – Radical Left Parties in Europe. Berlin: Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung, pp. 185–195.Google Scholar
Ishiyama, J (1995) Communist parties in transition: structures, leaders, and processes of democratization in Eastern Europe. Comparative Politics 27(2), 146–166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnston, R and Pattie, C (2006) Putting Voters in their Place: Geography and Elections in Great Britain. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keith, D (2011) Party Organisation and Party Adaptation: Western European Communist and Successor Parties. Hove: University of Sussex.Google Scholar
Key, VO (1964) Politics, Parties, and Pressure Groups. New York: Crowell.Google Scholar
KSČM (2016) Stanovy KSČM. Prague: Mediální úsek ÚV KSČM.Google Scholar
Lach, J, LaPlant, JT, Peterson, J and Hill, D (2010) The party isn’t over: an analysis of the Communist Party in the Czech Republic. Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics 26(3), 363–388.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mudde, C (2007) Populist Radical Right Parties in Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pink, M and Eibl, O (2018) The 2016 Czech regional elections: without real regional parties or voters’ interest. Regional and Federal Studies 28(3), 353–365.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ryšavý, D (2013) Czech counties after a dozen years of regionalization: continuity and novelties after county elections 2012. Regional and Federal Studies 23(5), 631–642.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seyd, P and Whiteley, P (2002) New Labour’s Grassroots. The Transformation of the Labour Party Membership. London: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Snyder, R (2001) Scaling down: the subnational comparative method. Studies in Comparative International Development 36(1), 93–110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tavits, M (2013) Post-Communist Democracies and Party Organization. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Biezen, I (2003) Political Parties in New Democracies. Party Organization in Southern and East-Central Europe. Houndmills: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
van Biezen, I, Mair, P and Poguntke, T (2012) Going, going, … gone? The decline of party membership in contemporary Europe. European Journal of Political Research 51(1), 24–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waller, M (1995) Adaptation of the former communist parties of East-Central Europe. Party Politics 1(4), 473–490.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Webb, P and White, S (eds) (2007) Party Politics in New Democracies. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar