Showing papers in "European Journal of Political Research in 2004"

‘Governance’ as a bridge between disciplines: Cross-disciplinary inspiration regarding shifts in governance and problems of governability, accountability and legitimacy

Abstract: Modern societies have in recent decades seen a destabilization of the traditional governing mechanisms and the advancement of new arrangements of governance. Con- spicuously, this has occurred in the private, semi-private and public spheres, and has involved local, regional, national, transnational and global levels within these spheres. We have wit- nessed changes in the forms and mechanisms of governance by which institutional and orga- nizational societal sectors and spheres are governed, as well as in the location of governance from where command, administration, management and control of societal institutions and spheres are conducted. We have also seen changes in governing capabilities (i.e., the extent to which societal institutions and spheres can, in fact, be steered), as well as in styles of gov- ernance (i.e., the processes of decision making and implementation, including the manner in which the organizations involved relate to each other). These shifts tend to have signifi- cant consequences for the governability, accountability, responsiveness and legitimacy of governance institutions. These developments have been generating a new and important research object for political science (including international relations). One of the crucial features of these developments is that they concern a diversity of sectors. In order to get a thorough understanding of 'shifts in governance', political science needs, and is also likely to adopt, a much stronger multidisciplinary orientation embracing politics, law, public admin- istration, economics and business administration, as well as sociology, geography and history.

Where does turnout decline come from

Abstract: . This article looks at the socio-demographic sources of turnout decline in Canada. The analysis is based on the Canadian Election Studies that have been conducted between 1968 and 2000. There is a small period effect which suggests that the propensity to vote has declined marginally (by about three percentage points) in all demographic groups. There are substantial life cycle effects – that is, turnout shifts within a given cohort as members of that cohort grow older. There are powerful generation effects: turnout differs among the various cohorts even when we compare them at the same stage of their life cycle. The much lower turnout among the post-baby-boomers is the main reason why turnout has declined overall in Canada. The most recent generations are less prone to vote in good part because they pay less attention to politics and because they are less likely to adhere to the norm that voting is not only a right, but also a moral duty. The decline in turnout thus reflects a larger cultural change. Education remains an important correlate of voting. The increase in educational attainment has contributed to dampening the decline in turnout. There is no evidence that the decline in turnout has been more acute among certain sub-groups of the electorate (leaving aside age and education).

Exchanging access goods for access: A comparative study of business lobbying in the European Union institutions

Abstract: The aim of this article is to test empirically a theory of access that investigates the logic behind the apparent ad hoc lobbying behavior of business interests in the European Union (EU) multi-level system. First, a theoretical framework is set out that attempts to explain the access of different organizational forms of business interest representation - companies, associations and consultants - to the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers. The degree of access to these institutions is explained in terms of a theory of the supply and demand of access goods. Access goods concern information that is crucial in the EU policy-making process. In return for access to an EU institution, business interests have to provide the access good(s) demanded by that institution. A number of specific hypotheses about access are analyzed in an extensive empirical study of the EU financial services sector. On the basis of 126 exploratory and semi-structured interviews, the hypotheses are checked across the three EU institutions.

Welfare regimes and the welfare mix

Abstract: We present a different approach to appraising welfare regimes, stressing differ- ent dimensions, variables and techniques to those used by Esping-Andersen in his path- breaking work entitled The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism .F irst, instead of focusing on social rights, we construct an alternative path to identifying welfare regimes starting from the welfare mix. Second, we incorporate active labour market policies (ALMP) as a key variable of the welfare mix. Third, we use hierarchical and k-means cluster analysis to iden- tify welfare regimes in the data. Fourth, we compare regimes over time. Nevertheless, despite these different approaches, we conclude, like Esping-Andersen, that there are three clusters or worlds of welfare capitalism. We also find that the clustering of welfare regimes was sharper in the mid-1990s as compared to the mid-1980s, but that comparing welfare regimes in the 1980s with the 1990s indicates strong path-dependence. Faced with high and persistent levels of unemployment in the 1990s, OECD countries have adopted policies, including ALMP, which reinforce their welfare mix.

Contested decisions: Empirical analysis of voting in the European Union Council of Ministers

Abstract: . This article analyses voting records of the European Union's (EU) Council of Ministers. Governments’ voting patterns are assumed to be partly affected by national-level factors and partly by EU-level factors. The results support the view that the political space of the EU is defined by two dimensions: the traditional left-right dimension, and the independence versus integration dimension. In general, left-wing governments tend to vote less against the Council majority than their right-wing counterparts. However, if the government is a strong supporter of increased integration, its position on the left-right dimension does not matter much. All other things being equal, pro-integration governments are least likely to raise their voice against the Council majority. However, considerable differences are found among eurosceptic parties. Of these, right-wing governments are the most active ‘no’ voters. In addition, large countries are more likely to vote ‘no’ than small countries. When they hold the presidency, governments take the role of arbitrator and vote less against the majority in the Council than otherwise.

Contemporary Euroscepticism in the party systems of the European Union candidate states of Central and Eastern Europe

Abstract: This article examines party-based Euroscepticism in the candidate states of Central and Eastern Europe. In an attempt to develop comparative lessons from the different cases, it presents research into the location, electoral strength and type of Euroscepticism in the party systems of these countries. The data is then used to examine six propositions about the relationship between party-based Euroscepticism and left-right ideological spectrum, party position in party systems, public Euroscepticism, prospects for accession, `hard? and `soft? Euroscepticism and state longevity. The article concludes that extending the scope of our study of Euroscepticism to the candidate states extends our understanding of Euroscepticism from its study in Western Europe and brings new insights into party systems in Central and Eastern Europe. It also offers clues as to some future effects of European Union enlargement.

Counting parties and identifying dominant party systems in Africa

Abstract: By most definitions, the third wave of democratisation has given rise to dominant parties and dominant party systems in Africa. The effective number of parties, the most widely used method to count parties, does not adequately capture this fact. An analysis of 59 election results in 18 sub-Saharan African countries shows that classifications of party systems on the basis of the effective number of parties are problematic and often flawed. Some of these problems are well known, but the African evidence brings them out with unusual clarity and force. It is found that Sartori's counting rules, party system typology and definition of a dominant party are still the most helpful analytical tools to arrive at an accu- rate classification of party systems and their dynamics in general, and of dominant party systems in particular.

Veto players and the structure of budgets in advanced industrialized countries

Abstract: This article tests expectations generated by the veto players theory with respect to the over time composition of budgets in a multidimensional policy space. The theory pre- dicts that countries with many veto players (i.e., coalition governments, bicameral political systems, presidents with veto) will have difficulty altering the budget structures. In addition, countries that tend to make significant shifts in government composition will have com- mensurate modifications of the budget. Data collected from 19 advanced industrialized countries from 1973 to 1995 confirm these expectations, even when one introduces socio- economic controls for budget adjustments like unemployment variations, size of retired population and types of government (minimum winning coalitions, minority or oversized governments). The methodological innovation of the article is the use of empirical indica- tors to operationalize the multidimensional policy spaces underlying the structure of budgets. The results are consistent with other analyses of macroeconomic outcomes like inflation, budget deficits and taxation that are changed at a slower pace by multiparty governments. The purpose of this article is to test empirically the expectations of the veto players theory in a multidimensional setting. The theory defines 'veto players' as individuals or institutions whose agreement is required for a change of the status quo. The basic prediction of the theory is that when the number of veto players and their ideological distances increase, policy stability also increases (only small departures from the status quo are possible) (Tsebelis 1995, 1999, 2000, 2002). The theory was designed for the study of unidimensional and multidimensional policy spaces. While no policy domain is strictly unidimen- sional, existing empirical tests have only focused on analyzing political economy issues in a single dimension. These studies have confirmed the veto players theory's expectations (see Bawn (1999) on budgets; Hallerberg & Basinger (1998) on taxes; Tsebelis (1999) on labor legislation; Treisman (2000) on inflation; Franzese (1999) on budget deficits). This article is the first attempt to test whether the predictions of the veto players theory hold in multidimensional policy spaces. We will study a phe- nomenon that cannot be considered unidimensional: the 'structure' of budgets - that is, their percentage composition, and the change in this composition over

Opposition to European integration and fear of loss of national identity: Debunking a basic assumption regarding hostility to the integration project

Abstract: . Opposition to the European integration project can stem from many different sources, but one that appears to be fairly fundamental is the threat that the European Union (EU) poses to long-established national identities. This contention may in fact appear to be so trivial as to make it uninteresting to the social science community. However, this article analyses the degree to which EU citizens do indeed feel their national identities to be under threat by the EU and the effect of such fear on general feelings about the integration process. The impact of fear of loss of national identity due to integration is then compared to the impact of other potential sources of variation in support for the integration project. The results indicate that while large proportions of EU citizens do indeed fear that the EU is threatening their national identity and culture, the effect of this fear on attitudes toward the EU is not all that substantial and other factors play an equal or greater role in explaining individual-level opposition to the EU.

The diffusion of regulatory impact analysis – Best practice or lesson‐drawing?

Abstract: . This article presents the main results of a research project on regulatory impact analysis (RIA) in comparative perspective. Its main theoretical thrust is to explore the limitations of the conventional analysis of RIA in terms of de-contextualised best practice and provide an alternative framework based on the lesson-drawing literature. After having discussed how demand and supply of best practice emerge in the OECD and the European Union, some analytic (as opposed to normative) lessons are presented. The main lessons revolve around the politics of problem definition, the nesting of RIA into wider reform programmes, the political malleability of RIA, the trade-off between precision and administrative assimilation, the roles of networks and watchdogs, and institutional learning. The conclusions discuss the implications of the findings for future research.

Actor Alignments In European Union Decision Making

Abstract: What is the structure of the political space in which decision-making actors operate in the European Union? Are there consistent alignments of actors? This article addresses these questions by examining a new data set containing information on the pref- erences of the Commission, the Member States and the European Parliament on 174 issues raised during talks on 70 recent Commission proposals. To a limited extent, the preference alignments can be described in terms of two underlying dimensions. However, these con- ceptual structures are weak. The first dimension is defined by the position of the European Commission and European Parliament at one end and the reference point at the other; the second dimension by a division between the Northern and Southern Member States. The meaning of these dimensions is investigated by identifying the substance of the policy issues on which these actor alignments are found. The Commission-reference point dimension is interpreted in terms of policy change rather than, as has previously been suggested, the level of integration. The North-South dimension corresponds to diverging views on the use of regulatory versus market-based solutions to policy problems. The weakness of these con- ceptual structures, it is argued, is due to the sectoral nature of European Union decision making. This lack of structure is likely to have a positive effect on support for the system among its members, since the benign effects of ideology at the national level cannot be expected to apply at the European Union level.

An organisational approach to European integration: Outline of a complementary perspective

Abstract: An organisational approach to European integration focuses on individual actors' organisational context in order to account for their behaviour, interests and identities. Inter- governmentalists usually preclude any profound impact of European Union (EU) institu- tions and organisations. Institutionalists (other than rational-choice institutionalists), on the other hand, claim that EU institutions are able to shape and reshape individual actors' pref- erences and sense of belonging. Seen from an organisational perspective, however, institu- tionalists often fail to specify (and theorise) the organisational components that institutions may contain. This 'unpacking' of institutions is necessary in order to clarify the conditions under which transformation of actors and policy processes might occur. This article tries to illustrate what an organisational approach has to offer in fields like committee governance and Commission decision making. In addition, organisational theory provides a yardstick for assessing the degree of overall system integration.

News matters: Influences on the vote in the Danish 2000 euro referendum campaign

Abstract: This study investigates how the information environment in the Danish 2000 euro referendum campaign served to crystallize opinion on the issue within the context of a number of other hypothesized influences on the vote, based on previous studies of referen- dum voting. Our data include a nationally representative two-wave panel survey and a content analysis of news coverage during the referendum campaign. We develop a weighted measure of exposure to news on public and private television channels, that takes into account the volume and tone of the coverage towards the YES and NO campaigns, and using this we find that exposure to public television news significantly influences vote choice when controlling for other predictors. We also find varied levels of support for hypotheses con- cerning the influence of other key variables such as ideology, economic evaluations, government approval and issue-specific contextual variables. The findings emphasize the importance of considering the information environment during referendum campaigns.

The structural context of recent transitions to democracy

Abstract: . In general, the literature on democratic transitions has focused on political processes and choices of actors in explaining regime change, thereby failing to investigate whether structural factors affect the recent rise in transitions to democracy. An analysis of the influence of these structural factors is however important, and it has not yet been done in a systematic way in order to explain recent transitions to democracy since 1989. It will be shown that some structural factors indeed play a role in generating transitions to democracy. These results contradict the idea that structural factors can be ignored when explaining recent transitions to democracy. An additional finding in this article is that some structural factors, such as economic development, growth and a country's role in the world-system had an unexpected impact on democratic transitions since the end of the Cold War. These findings set bounds to the strength of the modernization and world-system theories to explain transitions to democracy, but on the other hand, democratic diffusion played a significant role after 1989. In the (structural) context in which a state had a peripheral role, a low level of economic growth and a high proportion of democratic neighbors, the probability of a state's transition to democracy was high. This structural context seemed to be fertile soil for recent transitions to democracy.

Migrant mobilization between political institutions and citizenship regimes: A comparison of France and Switzerland

Abstract: . This article focuses on the political claims made by immigrants and ethnic minorities in France and Switzerland. We look at cross-national variations in the overall presence of immigrants and ethnic minorities in the national public space, and the forms and content of their claims. Following a political opportunity approach, we argue that claim-making is affected both by institutional opportunities and by national models of citizenship. The civic-assimilationist conception of citizenship in France gives migrants greater legitimacy to intervene in the national public space. Furthermore, the inclusive definition of ‘membership in the national community’ favors claims pertaining to minority integration politics. However, the pressure toward assimilation to the republican norms and values tends to provoke claims for the recognition of ethnic and cultural difference. Finally, closed institutional opportunities push migrants’ mobilization to become more radical, but at the same time the more inclusive model of citizenship favors a moderate action repertoire of migrants. Conversely, the ethnic-assimilationist view in Switzerland leads migrants to stress homeland-related claims. When they do address the policy field of ethnic relations, immigration and citizenship, they focus on issues pertaining to the entry and stay in the host society. Finally, the forms of action are more moderate due to the more open institutional context, but at the same time the action repertoire of migrants is moderated by the more exclusive model of citizenship. Our article is an attempt to specify the concept of ‘political opportunity structure’, and to combine institutional and cultural factors in explaining claim-making by immigrants and ethnic minorities. We confront our arguments with data from a comparative project on the mobilization on ethnic relations, citizenship and immigration.

Politicisation, economic development and political interest in Europe

Abstract: . Political interest is usually depicted as an individual attribute that can be explained by referring to the resources and skills of citizens. The analyses presented here are based on a critical assessment of the explanatory power of these approaches in cross-national and longitudinal comparisons. A contextual model is presented emphasising the relevance of distinct degrees of politicisation and economic development in different societies in addition to traditional sociodemographic factors (education, date of birth and gender) at the microlevel. The resulting multilevel model combines both individual and contextual factors to explain the cross-national differences and changes in political involvement and apathy in Europe in the last three decades. The politicisation thesis, which states that the level of political interest among citizens is an increasing function of the relevance of societal and political arrangements in a society, is not supported by the empirical findings presented here. The most noteworthy conclusion is the remarkable disappearance of the impact of societal politicisation when the level of economic development of each country is included in multilevel models. The level of political interest, then, clearly depends on the level of economic development.

Economic voting: The effect of political context, volatility and turnout on voters’ assignment of responsibility

Abstract: . This study analyses macroeconomic conditions and the electoral fortune of incumbents in 21 parliamentary Western countries between 1950 and 1997 in 266 national elections. Voters’ assignment of responsibility for the state of the national economy is assumed to vary according to the context of the election. Building on previous research, the importance of the political context – clarity of responsibility and availability of alternatives – is analysed. The study also breaks new ground by introducing two new contexts of importance: volatility, seen from a systemic perspective, and the trend in turnout. The contextual hypothesis is confirmed. The universal economic effect as such is very weak indeed. However, given a favourable political and institutional environment (clear responsibility structure and availability of alternatives), an economic effect appears. Tests including the new contexts created on the basis of behavioural patterns in the electorate (system volatility and turnout trend) identify elections where the economic effects are even stronger.

Problems of democratic governance of civil‐military relations in Turkey and the European Union enlargement zone

Abstract: . In the light of the pre-eminent role of the military in Turkish public affairs, this article seeks to assess critically the suitability of the entry criteria that Turkey must fulfil if it is to accede into the European fold. With that in mind, the article takes the idea of the ‘democratic control of the armed forces’ (Decaf), as conceived of by Western agencies such as NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) and the EU (European Union), and unravels its relevance and implications for the Turkish case. The key features of Central and Eastern European systems of civil-military relations, which are targeted by the Decaf measures are contrasted with the Turkish case in order to show that a single-model approach to Decaf is untenable. It is then argued that the way that the strategy that has been used for implementing Decaf is impoverished because it fails to capture the ‘real politics’ in which militaries are embedded. Based on that, the article reaches the conclusion that one of the central factors preventing Turkey's potential accession into the European fold is the prevailing civil-military relationship. However, the approach being employed by Western agencies fails to adequately recognize and respond to the nature of that relationship.

The metamorphoses of corporatism: From classical to lean patterns

Abstract: . Given notable fluctuations in the relevance of corporatist practices over time, did profound transformations in the profile of corporatism accompany these fluctuations? Based on data from twenty OECD countries, this article examines whether and how corporatist wage regulation changed its profile in structures, policies and performance from 1970 to 1996. The empirical evidence obtained from this analysis runs counter to the orthodox view of superior persistence and performance of classical (i.e., encompassing and centralized) structures of corporatism. Non-classical (‘lean’) structures have gained in importance and performed no worse than their classical counterparts. The article concludes by discussing the implications of the findings for corporatist theory.

How multilevel structures affect environmental policy in industrialized countries

Abstract: . Extensive decentralization and devolution efforts among industrialized nations throughout the 1980s and 1990s call for a closer look at the effect these trends have on public policy. This article investigates the impact of these trends on the environmental performance of industrialized countries. There are two competing hypotheses as to how federalism and other multilevel governance structures affect the environmental performance of countries. The first stresses that the resulting institutional fragmentation and regulatory unpredictability is detrimental to the protection of the environment. An alternative hypothesis emphasizes that multilevel systems fare better regarding environmental performance because they can effectively respond to local needs and encourage innovation at the sub-national level. Based on OECD air pollution data, the study finds that multilevel structures affect the way in which important determinants of environmental performance work. Thus, corporatist accommodation structures, which are known to enhance environmental policy, do so primarily in multi-tiered systems. A high level of economic development, on the other hand, which has also been shown to contribute to environmental performance, does so mainly in countries that are characterized by weak multilevel structures. The article discusses theoretical and practical implications of these findings.

Party government in Central Eastern European democracies: A data collection (1990–2003)

Abstract: . This article provides a systematic comparative overview of party governments in 11 Central Eastern European countries. The review is based on the compilation of a cross-national data set on post-communist party governments from 1990 to 2003. The presentation of the data is organised in the same way as the party government data for Western democracies presented by Woldendorp et al. in 1998. Thus, the data provide empirical grounds for further comparative research on party governments in Central Eastern European countries, as well as among Central Eastern and Western Europe.

Cleavages, competition and coalition-building: Agrarian parties and the European question in Western and East Central Europe

Abstract: . The central argument in this article is that Europeanisation of party politics – the translation of issues related to European integration into domestic party politics – is driven by the dynamics of long- and short-term party strategy. Variations in the patterns of Euroscepticism found in agrarian parties across Europe is therefore explained in terms of three central variables: the agrarian parties’ long-term policy goals linked to identity and interest; their position in the party systems and the mainstream left- and right-wing parties’ stance on European integration; and their long- and short-term electoral strategies and office-related incentives.

Does winning pay? Electoral success and government formation in 15 West European countries

Abstract: . Government formation is guided by several principles such as majority, plurality and electoral gain. According to the principle of electoral gain, parties that increase their share of seats in the elections should form the government, with parties that lose seats joining the opposition. We analyse conformity with this principle in 15 West European countries with multiparty coalition governments between 1945 and 1999. With the exception of the largest party, electoral performance is a rather poor predictor of getting into government. The results show interesting variation between countries, with the loss of seats increasing the probability of entering government in Austria, Germany, Spain and Italy. High electoral volatility is positively related to the degree to which the electoral gain principle applies, but there was no association between this principle and party system fragmentation or aggregation. Prime ministers come more often from parties that are big winners, but winning does not explain the probability of becoming a coalition partner – if a party wants to be a coalition partner, then avoiding the loss of seats is more important.

Are the underprivileged really that economically ‘leftist’? Attitudes towards economic redistribution and the welfare state in Flanders

Abstract: . According to S. M. Lipset, the working classes are authoritarian in the cultural domain, but leftist in the economic domain as the interests of the underprivileged make them inclined to support redistributive politics. These findings have been repeated in an extensive body of research. In our analysis using Flemish (Belgian) data (N =1,577), we examine the economic orientations of the underprivileged, more specifically their attitudes towards social inequality, economic redistribution and welfare state politics. We found that many respondents (especially among the underprivileged) express complaints against social inequality, while at the same time rejecting the arrangements of the welfare state. We argue that it is inappropriate to consider this economic orientation as a specific ideological doctrine. Rather it should be considered as a syndrome that can be labelled ‘economic populism’. Economic populism is caused by feelings of social discontent, such as defeatism and political distrust. The methodological and theoretical implications of these findings will be discussed.

Tolerance, protest and democratic transition: Survey evidence from 13 post‐communist countries

Abstract: . Based on survey evidence in 13 post-communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe, we show that citizens who engage in protest activities are more tolerant than those who do not take part in such activities. We argue that these ‘protesters’ have the potential to play a pivotal role in the democratic consolidation process currently under way in post-communist countries. Our findings are compatible with earlier results that suggest that the remaking of political culture, in societies where radical social and political changes have been taking place, might be accomplished through concrete experience with the democratic process rather than through adherence to abstract democratic norms.

The origins of Euroscepticism in German-speaking Switzerland

Abstract: This article examines why the electorate in German-speaking Switzerland has consistently opposed joining the European Union. It first shows that the region scores highly on a range of general correlates of negative attitudes towards European integration. However, this is compounded by more idiosyncratic factors, above all by the German- speaking Swiss' peculiar political and cultural position. On the one hand, as Swiss they belong to a state that lacks a single national culture, is defined in civic and institutional rather than cultural terms, and therefore appears more vulnerable in the face of the European Union's own civic and institutional ambitions. On the other hand, as Swiss-Germans, they belong to a cultural and linguistic region whose cultural boundaries are relatively fragile and lack institutional backup and articulation. Caught in this identitive double bind, the Swiss-German electorate has developed an underlying sense of vulnerability and a desire to limit exposure to the outside world.

Choice versus sensitivity: Party reactions to public concerns

Abstract: Most discussions of democratic theory assume that parties should offer clear choices to voters but also show themselves sensitive to public concerns Under certain circumstances, however, party convergence on these may preclude electoral choice, thus creating conflict between two democratic ‘goods’ We examine possible tradeoffs between choice and responsiveness, and see which actually occur in 16 postwar democracies Party policy positions turn out to be more strongly related to party ideology than popular concerns, thus privileging differentiation and choice over sensitivity and responsiveness Implications for democratic theory and practice are considered

Transatlantic Constitutionalism: Comparing the United States and the European Union

Abstract: . This article contributes to the European constitutional debate with a comparison of the constitutional evolution of the European Union and the United States. The European Union has more to learn from the American experience of constitutionalism than from any of its own Member States. Like the United States, the European Union will have a frame of government constitution that will try to order a system of multiple and concurrent communities of interests, as happened in America, and designed by an indirectly elected assembly. The European Union and the United States will continue to manifest many differences in other crucial aspects of their institutional and cultural development. However, although constrained by their respective historical and institutional paths, their constitutional evolution is making the Atlantic Ocean less wide than it used to be.

Explaining politics: An empirical test of competing value measures

Abstract: . Values have long played a major role both in the analysis of political culture and as an explanatory concept relating to human attitudes and action: in fact, their scientific significance depends crucially on their explanatory function. After more than three decades of debate about the rise of postmaterialism and Inglehart's particular value measure, this rationale appears at times to be lost. This article examines the crucial issue of value's potential to explain political phenomena. How much can the postmaterialism-materialism instrument explain? Are there alternative operationalisations of values that have greater utility? The empirical analysis, based upon a representative survey conducted in Germany in 1992, leads to the surprisingly unambiguous result that among different value measures, Inglehart's variant explains the least.

Parties, promiscuity and politicisation: Business-political networks in Poland

Abstract: Research on post-communist political economy has begun to focus on the interface between business and politics. It is widely agreed that informal networks rather than business associations dominate this interface, but there has been very little systematic research in this area. The literature tends to assume that a politicised economy entails business-political networks which are structured by parties. Theoretically, this article distinguishes politicisation from party politicisation and argues that the two are unlikely to be found together in a post-communist context. Empirically, this paper uses elite survey data and qualitative interviews to explore networks of businesspeople and politicians in Poland. It finds substantial evidence against the popular idea that Polish politicians have business clienteles clearly separated from each other according to party loyalties. Instead, it argues that these politicians and businesspeople are promiscuous. Since there seems to be little that is unusual about the Polish case, this conclusion has theoretical, methodological, substantive and policy implications for other post-communist countries.