Party Organization and the Political Success of the Communist Successor Parties

Abstract

Objective. Although there has been much recent work done on party systems in the postcommunist world, there has been very little systematic comparative work that examines the relationship between the organizational development of political parties and political performance. The objective of this article is to empirically examine the relationship between party organization and the political success of 17 communist successor parties from 1993 to 2000. Methods. I propose a way of measuring party organizations based upon the degree of personnel overlap between the organs of the extraparliamentary party and the party in public office and the organizational density of political parties and relate these characteristics to the political success enjoyed by the communist successor parties. Results. In general, I find that the more the successor party was dominated by officeholders and less reliant on a mass membership for political support in the years immediately following the transition, the more successful the party was later. Conclusions. The interaction of party organization with the party's competitive environment was a better predictor of success than declines in the socioeconomic condition of the population, rises in popular "nostalgia" for the past, or openings created by political institutions.

Internal Party Democracy, Party Candidature, and Democratic Consolidation in Nigeria's Fourth Republic

“…While it is clear from the literature that both IPD and non-IPD methods may have similar effects on party organization and institutionalization, the Nigerian scenario shows that the nonuse of IPD tends to enhance party disorganization and conflicts. This is in line with the postulation of some scholars (see e.g., Huntington 1991;Ishiyama 2001) that the ultimate success of democratization depends heavily on political moderation of major political parties. Since the Nigerian state has thought it wise to legislate on the practice of IPD, efforts should be made to stop what Maiyo (2008, 1) sees as "preaching water and drinking wine."…”

“…It relates to issues concerning structuring, which includes vertical and horizontal, membership and funding, decision‐making process, and so on. Beyond the issues of internal organization of a party alone is also the issue of competitive environment that parties face, or what Ishiyama (, 854) describes as the characteristics of “structure of competition.” The effectiveness of a party in achieving its objectives will usually depend on the capacity of its internal organization, as well as the interparty relationship or what is generally described as the party system (Sartori ). While this view is generally accepted, the divergence is always on how to actually conceptualize party organization.…”

Members and leaders in Russian party organisations

“…These include studies that draw on: Panebianco's (1988) theory of the importance of the organisational origins of parties for their subsequent development (Hutcheson 2003); Michels's (1959) elite-based view of parties as organisations that inevitability concentrate power in the hands of their leaders (Sakwa 2008, p. 144); post-war works by Duverger (1959), Kirchheimer (1966), and others, which stress the relationship between electoral competition and organisational development (Ishiyama 2001); and comparative analysis (Kitschelt 2000), which assesses the organisational effects of the resources that parties have at their disposal, including access to public office, finance, coherent ideas, charismatic leaders, patronage networks (Hale 2006).…”

Alte Bekannte im neuen System: Gründe für die Aufstiege und Niedergänge der mittelosteuropäischen Postkommunisten seit 1990

“…Haughton 2004;Ishiyama 2001;Lewis 2000;Mahr und Nagle 1995;segert 1995, 2005thieme 2007;timmermann 1994a). Unklar blieb aber häufig, 1) entlang welcher Konfliktlinie sich die Links-Rechts-Dimension aufspannt und 2) warum gerade diese oder jene linke bzw.…”