Communist successor parties in post-communist politics / John T. Ishiyama, editor.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Ishiyama, John T., 1960-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Communist parties--Europe, Eastern.

Communist parties.

Europe, Eastern--Politics and government--1989-.

Europe, Eastern.

Eastern Europe.

Politics and government.

Communist parties--Former Soviet republics.

Former Soviet republics--Politics and government.

Former Soviet republics.

Physical Description:

viii, 263 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Commack, N.Y. : Nova Science Publishers, 1999.

Summary:

The development of the communist successor parties will vitally affect the course of democratic consolidation in the post-communist countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Yet it would be incorrect to assume that these parties will affect the course of democratic consolidation in exactly the same way, or develop along the same lines. Indeed the communist successor parties have evolved in a variety of different ways. Some reformed communist parties, like those in Hungary and Poland have been so successful that they have been able to form governments. Others, such as those in the Czech Republic have experienced great difficulties in effecting an internal transformation. Moreover, the empirical evidence indicates that the internal conflicts within the successor parties over issues such as breaking with the party's past and the degree to which they are willing to compromise the ideology of Marxism - Leninism have also been quite different. What accounts for the divergent paths followed by the communist parties of Central and Eastern Europe? Why are some of these parties able to make a relatively successful transition from communist parties committed to democratic competition while others seem far less capable (or willing) to do so? This book presents thoughtful analyses of these important questions.

Contents:

Factors Affecting The Development of the Communist Successor Parties 4

The Effects of Organizations in Transition 6

Factors Affecting The Political Space 8

Institutional Factors 8

Issue Opportunities 9

Political Constituencies and Political Culture 11

The Cases 12

Adaptation and Change in Formerly Dominant Political Parties: Comparing Experiences in Hungary, Taiwan, and Tanzania / Sahar Shafqat 19

The Study of Formerly Dominant Political Parties 20

Formerly Dominant Party Adaptation and Performance: Theoretical Perspectives 25

Party Change: Dependent Variable 26

Factors Influencing Party Adaptation: Independent Variables 27

Analysis 30

The Cases 31

The Hungarian Socialist Party 32

The Kuomintang 33

The Chama Chai Mapinduzi 34

Party Change 36

Czech and Slovak Communist Successor Party Transformations After 1989: Organizational Resources, Elite Capacities, and Public Commitments / Anna Grzymala-Busse 43

Explanations of Party Transformation 46

Elite Capacities and Organizational Assets 50

Initial Transformative Policies: Reliance on Party Assets 53

Members and Platforms 53

Party Leadership 57

Local Entrenchment 58

The "Public Commitments" of the Parties 59

Party Performance 64

Dynamics and Mechanisms of Party Transformation 68

Two Paths of Change? How Former Communist Parties Remade Themselves After Communism's Collapse / Daniel F. Ziblatt 71

Ex-Communist Parties and the Study of Post-Communism 73

The Challenge of Communism's Demise as Critical Juncture: East Germany and Hungary Compared 77

Two Divergent Paths of Adaptation: Leftist-Retreat and Pragmatic Reform 85

Leftist-Retreat: The case of the East German PDS 87

Pragmatic-Reform: The Case of the Hungarian Ex-Communist Party 93

"Party with Roots in Marxism" 94

"European Social Democratic Party" 95

"Party of Experts, Technocrats and Pragmatists" 96

The Communist Party of the Russian Federation: From the Fourth Congress to the Summer of 1998 Government Crisis / Barbara Ann Chotiner 101

What Kinds of Parties Are Emerging? Patterns of Successor Party Organizational Development / John T. Ishiyama 131

Party Organizational Models 133

Conceptualizing Party Organization 135

Factors Affecting Party Organizational Type 140

Analysis 144

Electoral Systems, Changing Voter Preferences and the Success of Former Communist Parties in Baltic Elections / Bryon Moraski 155

The Electoral Systems Of The Baltic States 158

Disproportionality and Party Development in the Baltic Countries 160

Estonia 162

Latvia 166

Lithuania 169

Cross Country Comparisons 172

Challenging Expectations: A Comparative Study of the Communist Successor Parties of Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania / Jeffrey Stevenson Murer 179

Re-evaluating the Revolutions of 1989 181

Oppositions 185

The Hungarian Socialist Party 191

The Bulgarian Socialist Party 204

Democratic Social Party of Romania 213.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1560726776

OCLC:

40964867