Post-Communist and Post-Soviet Parliaments: The Initial Decade

by Philip Norton (Editor), David M. Olson (Editor)

Overview

The sudden collapse of communism stimulated both the rapid emergence of fledgling democracies and scholarly attention to the post-communist transition. These newly democratized parliaments have been described as "parliaments in adolescence".

This book identifies six parliaments which exemplify the wide range of developments in the new post-communist political systems, from the stable consolidated democracies to the less stable and more authoritarian states, within which their respective parliaments function.

Finally the post-communist parliaments are compared with the presumptively more established west European parliaments. This book bridges the usual gap in research between the post-communist parliaments and more "normal" democratic parliaments to develop a common legislative research perspective on both new and established parliaments.

This book was previously published as a special issue of the Journal of Legislative Studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415495233
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	02/20/2009
Series:	Library of Legislative Studies
Pages:	214
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Philip Norton [Lord Norton of Louth]: Professor of Government and Director of the Centre for Legislative Studies, University of Hull.

David M. Olson: Professor Emeritus of Political Science, and Co-Director, Center for Legislative Studies, University of North Carolina at Greensboro; Co-Chair of Research Committee of Legislative Specialists, International Political Science Association

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION Post-Communist and Post-Soviet Legislatures: Beyond Transition Philip Norton and David M. Olson THE PARLIAMENTS: DEMOCRATIC POST-COMMUNIST PARLIAMENTS 1. The Parliament of the Czech Republic, 1993-2004 Lukas Linek and Zdenka Mansfeldova 2. From Minimal to Subordinate: A Final Verdict? The Hungarian Parliament, 1990–2002 Gabriella Ilonszki 3. Five Terms of the Polish Parliament, 1989–2005 Ewa Nalewajko and Wlodzimierz Wesolowski 4. Slovenia’s National Assembly, 1992–2004 Drago Zajc THE PARLIAMENTS: AUTHORITARIAN POST-SOVIET PARLIAMENTS 5. Development of the Moldovan Parliament One Decade After Independence: Slow Going William E. Crowther 6. The Russian Federal Assembly, 1994–2004 Thomas F. Remington POST-COMMUNIST AND POST-SOVIET PARLIAMENTS COMPARED 7. MPs in Post-Communist and Post-Soviet Nations: A Parliamentary Elite in the Making Gabriella Ilonszki and Michael Edinger 8. Post-Communist and Post-Soviet Parliaments: Divergent Paths from Transition David M. Olson and Philip Norton