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This book offers interpretations of different forms of political opposition in political theory and also in the contemporary development of politics and government in Central Europe. The problem is analyzed through a comparative approach. The first part of the book targets the question of definitions and typologies of political opposition, above all, in democratic, but partly also in non-democratic regimes. The second part deals with the question of models of political opposition in Central Europe after the fall of communism in the late twentieth century and in the present.
Party Systems in East Central Europeanalyzes the formation of political parties in the nations of this region. In the first part, the authors concentrate on the key periods and turning points in this development, connecting them with the democratization of the countries in the region in the last third of the nineteenth century. This includes a look at the period before World War I, between the wars, and particularly in the times after the fall of the communist regimes. The analysis focuses chiefly on the ideological background that gave way to the rise of political parties in the region. In relation to this, the authors base their writing mainly on the socio-political theory of Stein Rokkan. The second part of the book is a political analysis of the key aspects related to party politics. First, the authors examine the ties of political parties to broad social processes, using the classic theories of Giovanni Sartori and Stein Rokkan. Next, they continue with the analysis of the operation of parties within governments, with a special focus on the creation of coalition governments, functioning of coalitions and coalition governance. Last, some defects are reflected upon, as well as unfinished processes related to the fast establishment of political parties in the region, e.g., absence of firm links with social groups, high volatility, instability of parties, etc.
Giovanni Sartori (1924-2017) was a founder and icon of contemporary political science. A number of his books and articles have become part of the theoretical and conceptual basis of the field, and of social science in general. This volume brings together selected essays that examine Sartori as a scholar, university professor and intellectual. It is unique in covering all three aspects of Sartori's academic work: comparative politics, social science methodology and political theory. General overviews of Sartori's contribution to political science are complemented by chapters that focus on specific areas of his interest; and Sartori's theoretical and methodological contributions are examined alongside his extensive public appearances, which remain little known outside Italy.
The first panoramic history of the Western world from the 1970s to the present day, Empire of Democracy is the story for those asking how we got to where we are. Half a century ago, at the height of the Cold War and amidst a world economic crisis, the Western democracies were forced to undergo a profound transformation. Against what some saw as a full-scale “crisis of democracy”— with race riots, anti-Vietnam marches and a wave of worker discontent sowing crisis from one nation to the next— a new political-economic order was devised and the postwar social contract was torn up and written anew. In this epic narrative of the events that have shaped our own times, Simon Reid-Henry shows how liberal democracy, and western history with it, was profoundly reimagined when the postwar Golden Age ended. As the institutions of liberal rule were reinvented, a new generation of politicians emerged: Thatcher, Reagan, Mitterrand, Kohl. The late twentieth century heyday they oversaw carried the Western democracies triumphantly to victory in the Cold War and into the economic boom of the 1990s. But equally it led them into the fiasco of Iraq, to the high drama of the financial crisis in 2007/8, and ultimately to the anti-liberal surge of our own times. The present crisis of liberalism enjoins us to revisit these as yet unscripted decades. The era we have all been living through is closing out, democracy is turning on its axis once again. As this panoramic history poignantly reminds us, the choices we make going forward require us first to come to terms with where we have been.
"Democracy theories and comparative political science have been challenged within the last decade by an unexpected democratic deficit and the rise of populism in the new EU-member states. This volume written by German and Czech scholars gives some food for thought for solving these research problems by means of thorough analyses of the polity, the politics and selected policies of the Czech Republic since 1990."Dieter Segert, retired Professor of Political Science (Area Studies on Eastern Europe), University of Vienna, Austria "Czech Democracy in Crisis is a long-overdue comprehensive study of the Czech political system. Using institutional approaches to change, it explores crucial policy outcomes. A perfect book for academics and practitioners who want to understand the challenges of democratic consolidation in a new democracy."Lenka Bustikova, Associate Professor of Political Science, Arizona State University, USA, and author of Extreme Reactions: Radical Right Mobilization in Eastern Europe The image of the Czechs as a poster child of democratization has changed into a crisis narrative in recent years. This edited volume traces this change and examines the suitability of different theories to explain developments in Czech democracy. The contributors, all renowned experts in their fields, offer well-founded and compact insights into the post-1989 Czech political system. They cover political institutions and parties; civil society; the media; and selected policy areas such as foreign, economic, migration and regional policy. The book takes into account processes of democratization and Europeanization, explaining the political picture at various stages of development. Finding that many of today’s problems—fragmented political parties, government instability, inefficient state administration and low quality of governance—have not been new developments but have constantly existed, the authors present a plea for theoretical adjustments that should be read by all academics, students, practitioners and readers with an interest in Czech politics and society.
Author : Barbara J. Falk Publisher : Central European University Press Page : 520 pages File Size : 47,44 MB Release : 2003-01-01 Category : Political Science ISBN : 9789639241398
"In addition to the huge list of written sources from samizdat works to recent essays, Falk's sources include interviews with many personalities of those events as well as videos and films."--Jacket.
Author : Barbara J. Falk Publisher : Central European University Press Page : 516 pages File Size : 50,3 MB Release : 2003-01-10 Category : History ISBN : 6155211167
Discusses one of the major currents leading to the fall of communism. Falk examines the intellectual dissident movements in Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary from the late 1960s through to 1989. In spite of its historic significance, no other comprehensive survey has appeared on the subject. In addition to the huge list of written sources from samizdat works to recent essays, Falks sources include interviews with many personalities of those events as well as videos and films (including Oscar winners).
Democratic theory considers it fundamental for parties in government to be both responsive to their electorate and responsible to internal and international constraints. But recently these two roles have become more and more incompatible with Mair’s growing divide in European party systems between parties which claim to represent, but don’t deliver, and those which deliver, but are no longer seen to represent truer than ever. This book contains a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the behaviour of the opposition parties in eleven European democracies across Western and East Central Europe. Specifically, it investigates the parliamentary behaviour of the opposition parties, and shows that the party context is increasingly diverse. It demonstrates the emergence of two distinct types of opposition: one more cooperative, carried out by the mainstream parties (those with government aspirations), and one more adversarial focusing on government scrutiny rather than on policy alternatives (parties permanently excluded from power). It systematically and analytically explores the sources of their behaviour, whilst acknowledging that opposition is broader than its mere parliamentary behaviour. Finally, it considers the European agenda and the economic crisis as two possible intervening variables that might have an impact on the opposition parties’ behaviour and the government-opposition relations. As such, it responds to questions that are major concerns for the European democracies of the new millennium. This text will be of key interest to students and scholars of political parties, European politics, comparative politics and democracy.
This open access book provides an in-depth look into the background of rule of law problems and the open defiance of EU law in East Central European countries. Current illiberal trends and anti-EU politics have the potential to undermine mutual trust between member states and fundamentally change the EU. It is therefore crucial to understand their domestic causes, context conditions, specific processes and consequences. This volume contributes to empirically informed theory-building and includes contributions from researchers from various disciplines and multiple perspectives on illiberal trends and anti-EU politics in the region. The qualitative case studies, comparative works and quantitative analyses provide a comprehensive picture of current societal, political and institutional developments in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. Through studying similarities and differences between East Central European and other EU countries, the chapters also explore whether there are regional patterns of democracy- and EU-related problems.
The Revolutions of 1989 is a collection of both classic and recent articles examining the causes and consequences of the collapse of communism in East and Central Europe, the most important event in recent world history. It includes discussion of: * the economic, political and social nature of revolutions * the role of dissidents and civil society in encouraging the breakdown of eastern * European communist regimes * comparisons with other revolutions * the extent of the collapse of Leninist regimes in East-Central Europe. European historians, scholars and students will wnat to make this an integral part of their studies.