Inter-Party Mobility among Parliamentary Candidates in Post-Communist East Central Europe

Abstract

The development of stable partisan commitments among political elites is crucial for party-system institutionalization in the new democracies of post-communist Europe. Little is known, however, about the partisan behavior of those who compete for national office. This study begins to fill this gap through an analysis of inter-party mobility among all candidates who ran for the lower house of parliament in two pairs of consecutive elections in Poland (1991–3 and 1993–7) and in three pairs of consecutive elections in the Czech Republic (1990–2, 1992–6 and 1996–8). We consider the overall extent of inter-party mobility, structural versus voluntary components of mobility, patterns of movement between types of parties and electoral payoffs of stable and shifting partisan affiliations. Although the overall rate of party-switching has declined substantially in the Czech Republic but not in Poland, changes in other characteristics of inter-party mobility indicate that party-system institutionalization is taking place in both countries.

Fallen Heroes in Global Capitalism

“…The exceptions are representative surveys of industrial workers carried out by the team around Gardawski (Gardawski, 1996 ;Gardawski et al, 2009;Gardawski et al, 2010 ), studies on rural workers and from an anthropological perspective (Pine, 2002 ) or analyses of the role of workers for transformation (Federowicz, 2004 ). Related sets of literature deal with labour representation Meardi, 2007a ;Ost, 2000a) and, in particular, labour quiescence (Ashwin, 1999 ;Kramer, 1995b ), working conditions , class structure (Doma ń ski, 2005;Evans and Mills, 1999 ; 2005 ; Shabad and Slomczynski, 2004 ) and the emerging poverty and culture of poverty (Doma ń ski, 2002 ;Pine, 2002 ). Case studies on the way capital has imposed new work practices are absent from transformation studies, with the exception of Dunn ( 2002 ).…”

Europarties and party development in EU-candidate states: The case of Bulgaria

“…In contrast, high and stable support, 4 Parties in the post-communist world are no exception to this trend. Although there is a large body of literature which suggests that ideology does not play an important role in the behaviour of individual politicians, this claim cannot be sustained in the case of parties (Shabad & Slomczynski 2004;Zielinski et al 2003;Mair 1997;Grofman et al 2000;Kreuzer & Pettai 2002). Parties must position themselves electorally in an ideological space, and they commonly base their appeal to voters on ideological positions.…”

Where do parties go when they die? The fate of failed parties in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary 1992–2013

“…If the pursuit of policy is more important than the party as such, elites might well try to return to parliament without jeopardizing the ideology, albeit putting the organisations' independence at risk (option 3), as the three denominational parties in the Netherlands did in 1977 and countless Italian parties have done since 1992. Finally, if the party elites realise that the party is a lost cause, or are utility-maximizing actors whose main concern is their political career, the MPs of failing parties might be expected to flee to other, more viable parties, or start a new party, and membership might decline as career-minded politicians leave for greener pastures (Shabad & Slomczynski 2004). This is much rarer, both in Western and in Central Europe.…”