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Power-sharing agreements have been widely used in Africa as paths out of civil war. However, the research focus on conflict mitigation provides an inadequate guide to recent cases such as Kenya and Zimbabwe. When used in response to flawed elections, pacts guaranteeing political inclusion adversely affect government performance and democratization. Political inclusion in these cases undermines vertical relationships of accountability, increases budgetary spending, and creates conditions for policy gridlock. Analysis using three salient dimensions highlights these negative effects: Origin distinguishes extra-constitutional pacts from coalitions produced by more stable institutions, function contrasts postwar cases from scenarios where the state itself faces less risk, and time horizon refers to dilemmas that weigh long-term costs versus short-term benefits. The conclusion suggests that the drawbacks of inclusive institutions can be moderated by options such as sunset clauses, evenhanded prosecution of human rights violations, and by strengthening checks on executive authority. Adapted from the source document.

Presents research on political marketing and social communication conducted in Central and Eastern European countries: Poland, Slovenia, Bulgaria, and Hungary; 5 articles. Contents: Models of voter behavior in traditional and evolving democracies: comparative analysis of Poland, Slovenia, and U.S., by Wojciech Cwalina, Andrzej Falkowski, Bruce Newman, and Dejan Vercic; Politician in television: "The Big Five" in impression formation, by Krystyna Skarzynska; Cognitive consequences of political loyalty, by Krzysztof Przybyszewski; Mass media paradoxes in the Bulgarian elections of 2001, by Lilia Raycheva; Forming political culture and marketing strategies in a Central-European setting, by Jolán Róka.

Argues that the diversity among postcommunist democracies results from differences in their historical legacies & current institutions. The link between legacies, institutions, & party systems is not random or disordered, but a product of the strategies of rational, power-seeking actors. Focus here is on "modes of linkage building between citizens & parties & the resulting strategies of party competition" that cause individual parties to mobilize in different ways in new democracies, & explain the wide variety of existing national party systems in Eastern Europe. A description of different party types suggests that diverging modes of party formation are influenced by the parties' basic ideologies as well as by the institutional & cultural context in which they function. Drawing on an in-depth empirical analysis of postcommunist democracies in Russia, Bulgaria, Romania, & the Ukraine, it is argued that Eastern Europe cannot be characterized by any single model of party/party system, & the standard model of mass parties with primarily programmatic appeals is unlikely to dominate. 1 Table. J. Lindroth

The external image of party leaders has often been analysed through their behaviour or reflection in the media. However, we know little about how party leaders are seen internally. This article addresses this gap in the literature and seeks to explain what determines the variation in party members' perceptions of leadership styles. It builds on the transactional–transformational continuum and uses original survey data from a modified version of the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire. The analysis includes 12 political parties with parliamentary representation from Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania between 2004 and 2018. The findings of the mixed-effects linear regression illustrate that in general older and active party members are more likely to see their leaders as transformational. The determinants of leadership style assessment differ greatly across political parties.

In an emergency, statesmen concentrate power and suspend citizens' rights. These emergency powers are ubiquitous in the crisis government of liberal democracies, but their nature and justification is poorly understood. Based on a pluralist conception of political ethics and political power, this book shows how we can avoid the dangers and confusions inherent in the norm/exception approach that dominates both historical and contemporary debate. The book shows how liberal values need never - indeed must never - be suspended, even in times of urgency. Only then can accountability remain a live possibility. But at the same time, emergency powers can sometimes be justified with reference to extra-liberal norms that also operate in times of normalcy. By emphasizing the continuity between times of normalcy and emergency, the book illuminates the norms of crisis government, broadening our understanding of liberal democratic government and of political ethics in the process

Citizen Participation in Multi-Level Democracies -- Copyright -- Contents -- Preface -- List of Contributors -- Citizen Participation in Multi-Level Democracies: An Introduction -- PART 1: Conceptual Foundation -- 1: Federalism and Democracy: Compatible or at Odds with One Another?: Re-Examining a Tense Relationship -- 2: Participation, Federalism and Pluralism: Challenges to Decision Making and Responses by Constitutionalism -- 3: Federalism, People's Legislation and Associative Democracy -- 4: Forms of Democratic Participation in Multi-Level Systems -- PART 2: Concretisation and Instruments of Democracy -- 5: Direct and Representative Democracy: The Perspective of German Citizens -- 6: Perspectives on the Institutionalization of Citizen Participation at the Municipal Level: A First-Hand Report -- 7: E-Participation in Germany: New Forms of Citizen Involvement between Vision and Reality -- 8: Financing Popular Initiatives and Referendum Campaigns -- 9: Participation and Administrative Procedure -- 10: "Liquid Democracy": Solution or Problem? -- PART 3: Examples from Federal and Regional States -- 11: Participatory democracy in Multi-Level States -- 12: Direct Democracy and Citizen Participation in the Austrian Federal State -- 13: Italian Regionalism: Participation and Plebiscitary Models -- 14: Direct Democracy in the Swiss Federation -- 15: The Referendum in the United Kingdom: Instrument for Greater Constitutional Legitimacy, Tool of Political Convenience, or First Step to Revitalize Democracy? -- 16: Laboratories of Democratic Innovation? Direct, Participatory, and Deliberative Democracy in Canadian Provinces and Municipalities -- PART 4: Emergence of Participation in European Affairs -- 17: Towards the Europeanization of Participation? Reflecting on the Functions and Beneficiaries of Participation in eu Environmental Law