Suchergebnisse

Much of the literature on fringe political parties in post-communist Europe focused on the relationship with mainstream parties. Little is known about what happens at the fringes, what are the features of politics at the fringes and when this type of politics becomes mainstream. This symposium moves beyond the notion of the fringe versus mainstream dichotomy: it is more 'granular' in its approach and seeks to differentiate between different forms of 'fringe' parties. The contributions aim to explore how and whether the fringe in post-communist countries changes in an age of populism and illiberalism. They represent an important attempt to take the fringe as a feature of politics that is not necessarily transient or a manifestation of the 'growing pains' of post-communism.

Frontmatter -- CONTENTS -- Preface -- Introduction -- 1 The Rise of Challenger Parties -- 2 A Theory of Political Change -- 3 Voter Loyalty -- 4 Strategies of Dominance -- 5 Issue Entrepreneurship -- 6 Antiestablishment Rhetoric -- 7 Changing Voter Appeal -- 8 Representation and Government -- 9 Future Scenarios -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

Political mobilization in the electoral and protest arenas have long been studied as separate phenomena, following their own, independent dynamic. Parties and protests are rarely examined within the same framework, although the protest engagement of political parties is often assumed to be one of the main driving forces of the wave of protest in southern European countries, those most exposed to the economic crisis. The chapter provides the first large-scale study of protests sponsored by political parties across Europe before and after the Great Recession. It relies on a novel protest event dataset, collected by semi-automated content analysis of news agencies. The data cover protests in thirty countries, from 2000 to 2015. The results show the 'crowding out' of political parties as the driving force of the protest wave in southern Europe. We find the highest share of party sponsored protest in eastern Europe, where unlike in north-western and southern Europe, right-wing and non-mainstream parties are also active in protest. In line with the overall findings of the book, our results confirm the distinctive dynamic of protest in the three European macro-regions and put the link between social movements and the new challenger parties in perspective.

The emergence of moderate centre—right parties in East Central Europe after 1989 was closely related to the strength and nature of organized opposition during the late communist period. Where such opposition was strong enough to take power, it went on to become the ideological, organizational and elite base for one or more moderate right parties. Where it was weak, moderate right parties were eclipsed by what I call `independence right' and `communist nationalist' parties that dominated the party system using nationalism and other forms of right-wing discourse. Identifying what kind of party dominates this discourse helps explain the very different political outcomes that followed regime change in 1989, including the different structures of party competition and the diverging quality of democracy. Over time, however, political change and the exigencies of qualifying for European Union (EU) membership empowered the centre—right, prompting most `independence right' and `communist nationalist' parties to become mainstream left-wing or right-wing parties. But the EU is now playing another role in party politics in the region, as those conservative centre—right parties that vow to protect the country from integration have become somewhat more powerful compared to their liberal counterparts.

"The years since the financial crisis have been marked by a remarkable stability in national government which hides the impact of a new kind of issue based politics which has arisen with parties such as Podemos in Spain, Srizia in Greece, The National Front in France and UKiP in the UK, all of whom have had a significant influence in shaping the political agenda in their own countries even if they have not actually secured formal power. This is the first book to present a rigorous yet accessible analysis of this phenomenon, grounded in the theories and methods of quantitative political science but drawing on empirical insights and theory from political psychology and sociology as well to try to understand the similarities and differences in the circumstances that have lead to these parties springing up and shaping political discourse and even policy to an extent that has challenged the very existence of the traditional party system"--

Analyzes the structure of party systems of four countries, focusing on Left-Right ideological identities, their social roots, and how they can be predicted by socio-political attitudes both on the mass and elite levels. Czech and Slovak Republics, Hungary, and Poland.