Stabilising Fragile Democracies: New Party Systems in Southern and Eastern Europe / Edition 1

by Paul Lewis, Geoffrey Pridham

Overview

Political parties play a central, if not the central, political role in parliamentary democracies. They are also likely to play a key role in the establishment of new parliamentary democracies. This volume provides a systematic comparison of the democratic transitions in both Eastern and Southern Europe from this point of view. There are four main themes concerning the role of parties that are examined: coping with the past (party identities and inheritances),the formation and performance of new democratic political elites, parties and alliances and their electoral behaviour. These themes guide the case studies, (which are written in comparative perspective), in four countries in both Southern and Eastern Europe. The countries covered include Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Hungary, Romania, Poland and Bulgaria. Democratization is a very complex process, but what the study of political parties does is to focus on an area that links many of them. This book is intended to be a guide to students wishing to make sense of democratization and the role of political parties in that process.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780415118033
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	12/14/1995
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Geoffrey Pridham is Professor of European Politics and Director of the Centre for Mediterranean Studies, University of Bristol., Paul Lewis is Senior Lecturer in Government at the Open University.

Table of Contents

Introduction , Geoffrey Pridham, Paul Lewis; Chapter 1 Party inheritances and party identities, Michael Waller; Chapter 2 From nomenclature to clientura, Attila Ágh; Chapter 3 Structuring the new party systems after the dictatorship, Maurizio Cotta; Chapter 4 Part Ies and electoral choices in east-central europe, Gábor Tóka; Chapter 5 Italy’s postwar transition in contemporary perspective, Oreste Massari; Chapter 6 The emergence of new party systems and transitions to democracy, Paul Heywood; Chapter 7 Securing democracy in post-authoritarian Greece, Michalis Spourdalakis; Chapter 8 The revenge of history, András Bozóki, Bill Lomax; Chapter 9 The emergence of new party systems and transitions to democracy, Tom Gallagher; Chapter 10 The formation of political Part Ies in post-communist poland, Wlodzimierz Wesolowski; Chapter 11 Bulgaria’s new party system, Georgi Karasimeonov;

Editorial Reviews

A comparative analysis of democratic transitional governments in eastern and southern Europe focusing on four case studies from Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Hungary, Romania, Poland, and Bulgaria. The 14 contributors consider how democratic parties and political elites form, the alliances and coalitions that are built after authoritarian regimes, and how parties cope with their histories while establishing new political identities. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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