Journal ArticleDOI
The Social Bases of Political Divisions in Post-Communist Eastern Europe
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This paper examined theoretical and empirical work on social cleavages in East European, post-communist societies and concluded that the emergence of social bases to politics that are like those in the West and that help shape variations in patterns of party competition in these societies.Abstract:
To what extent are the social bases of political divisions in former communist societies consistent with those observed in Western democracies? This review critically examines theoretical and empirical work on social cleavages in East European, post-communist societies. It considers the initial wave of hypotheses concerning the structuring of party support in the region and examines empirical evidence on the patterning of the social bases of political preferences that have accrued subsequently, as well as the somewhat sparser attempts at explaining the processes through which these patterns emerge and change. It points to the omissions and weaknesses of the analyses so far conducted and concludes that the post-communist era has seen the emergence of social bases to politics that are like those in the West and that help shape variations in patterns of party competition in these societies.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Party systems and cleavage structures revisited : a sociological explanation of party system institutionalization in East Central Europe
TL;DR: Since Lipset and Rokkan (1967) published their seminal work on the importance of social cleavages for the freezing of party systems more than forty years ago, much has been written on the field of political analysis as mentioned in this paper.
Book
Building States and Markets after Communism: The Perils of Polarized Democracy
TL;DR: The political logic of economic and institutional reform is discussed in this article, where the pace and consistency of reform are discussed, as well as the political polarization and economic growth of countries.
Journal ArticleDOI
Understanding Cleavages in Party Systems Issue Position and Issue Salience in 13 Post-Communist Democracies
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a model of party cleavages that synthesizes the various arguments into one comprehensive model, based on an expert survey of 87 parties in 13 post-Communist democracies.
Journal ArticleDOI
Political Conservatism and Left–Right Orientation in 28 Eastern and Western European Countries
TL;DR: The relationship between political conservatism and left-right orientation was examined in 15 Western European and 13 former communist Central and Eastern European countries using the data from European Social Survey Round 3 (N = 46,103) and Round 4 (n = 50,601).
References
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Book
Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation: Southern Europe, South America, and Post-Communist Europe
Juan J. Linz,Alfred Stepan +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, a comparative analysis of the process of democratization looks at Southern Europe, South America and post-communist Europe, and the authors reconceptualize the major types of modern non-democratic regimes and the consequences of each type for the paths available to democratic transition and consolidation.
Book
Presidents and Assemblies: Constitutional Design and Electoral Dynamics
TL;DR: In this article, the constitutional origin and survival of assembly and executive, and the legislative powers of presidents: veto and decree, are discussed, as well as electoral dynamics: efficiency and inefficiency.
Book ChapterDOI
Democracy and the Market
TL;DR: For example, this paper argued that free elections are more than just a prerequisite of democracy, they are democracy, so that authoritarian regimes may be said to be ‘democratised' when they introduce multi-party elections.
Book
Capitalism and social democracy
TL;DR: The authors examines the choices faced by socialist movements as they developed within capitalist societies and concludes that economic issues cannot justify a socialist programme, and that the workers had good reasons to struggle for the improvement of capitalism.