Stabilising Fragile Democracies: Comparing New Party Systems in Southern and Eastern Europe Book

Political parties play a central, if not the central political role in paliamentary democracies. They are also likely to play a key role in the establishment of new parliamentary democracies. Political Parties and the Transition of Democracy provides a systematic comparison of the democratic transitions in both Eastern and Southern Europe from this point of view. Four main themes concerning the role of parties are examined - party identities and inheritances; the formation and performance of new democratic political elites; parties and alliances; and their electoral behavior. Case studies of countries in Eastern and Western Europe are based on these themes and written from a 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 the study of political parties focuses on an area that links many of them. Political Parties and the Transition of Democracy makes sense of democratization and the role of political parties in that process.Read More