The Christian Democrats (Kristdemokraterna – KD) are a member of the current Swedish coalition government and at the same time one of the youngest relevant parties in the Swedish party system. The article below deals with an identity analysis of the KD and employs the concept of party family to frame the analysis of the party's programme. The paper also includes a description of the genesis of the KD and the party's position within the Swedish political party system. The article concludes with the observation that the KD can continue to be classified as a member of the Christian-democratic party family despite the fact that elements of the KD's programme can more often be found in the programmes of parties of other party families.
The theme is crucial to the concrete question, whether moravian identity really exists. It´s about phenomena which is natural and important for some parts of population or on the other hand we can see this identity as the artificial problem. The main goal is connecting with results from the field work. I would like to explain something about moravian political elites according to the non-political activism. It´s also necessary to mark historical processes which are important for present time. The polemic should have done some reflexive view on regionalism, activation of moravian elites and civic movements. ; The theme is crucial to the concrete question, whether moravian identity really exists. It´s about phenomena which is natural and important for some parts of population or on the other hand we can see this identity as the artificial problem. The main goal is connecting with results from the field work. I would like to explain something about moravian political elites according to the non-political activism. It´s also necessary to mark historical processes which are important for present time. The polemic should have done some reflexive view on regionalism, activation of moravian elites and civic movements.
The paper aims to explain the development of the perception of national identity of the Christian Democratic Party (CDU), the strongest German political party in the past few decades. The paper focuses on election manifestos for the 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2005, and 2009 elections. For this purpose, each manifesto is examined according to up to five analytical categories – such as values, nation, Europe, threats, and society. These categories explore the party's perception in a wider context instead of focusing only on direct references to national identity. The analysed period was divided into three phases with an emphasis on the internal crisis between the years 1998 and 2002. The crisis influenced policy priorities; therefore the perceptions of elements belonging to national identity were changed in order i) to gain victory in the general elections in 2002 and 2005, and ii) to reflect properly the state of German society. Therefore, significant policy shifts were made. These policy changes show how the party successfully integrated societal demands and preferences over the past decade. Thank to this, the CDU incorporated both conservative and liberal elements. This is evident in the case of incorporating liberal elements such as homosexual partnerships while, at the same time, actively stressing the importance of defending national interests. ; The paper aims to explain the development of the perception of national identity of the Christian Democratic Party (CDU), the strongest German political party in the past few decades. The paper focuses on election manifestos for the 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2005, and 2009 elections. For this purpose, each manifesto is examined according to up to five analytical categories – such as values, nation, Europe, threats, and society. These categories explore the party's perception in a wider context instead of focusing only on direct references to national identity. The analysed period was divided into three phases with an emphasis on the internal crisis between the years 1998 ...
In recent years, there was a great boom of publications on the village of Vojvodovo. Although there was a plenty of contributions on this topic in scholarly journals recently, there are still some blind spots that remain uncovered by the scholars. One of these are the Vojvodovo Bulgarians, who were – since the 1920s – the second most numerous (!) group of Vojvodovo inhabitants. It is them, the local Vojvodovo Bulgarians, the neighbors of the Vojvodovo Czechs, whose identities, changing in the course of time, we describe in this study. ; In recent years, there was a great boom of publications on the village of Vojvodovo. Although there was a plenty of contributions on this topic in scholarly journals recently, there are still some blind spots that remain uncovered by the scholars. One of these are the Vojvodovo Bulgarians, who were – since the 1920s – the second most numerous (!) group of Vojvodovo inhabitants. It is them, the local Vojvodovo Bulgarians, the neighbors of the Vojvodovo Czechs, whose identities, changing in the course of time, we describe in this study.
The article analyses the evolution of the Slovak political party "Smer" (Direction) and its position in the party system of Slovak Republic. The article focuses on the shift of the party program from the "Centrist Populism" towards "Social Democracy." According to the first program documents the Party of "Smer" (Direction) was designed as pragmatic, non-ideological party. In the persistent conflict between authoritarianism vs. democracy "Smer" identified itself as the pro-democratic and pro-market force. Party policy before 2002 contained only few social democratic components; it was closer to the conservative or right-wing populist parties. After the parliamentary election 2002 and the failure of non-communist left "Smer" decided to become a member of the Socialist International (SI) and Party of European Socialists (PES). The process of the institutional approach to the international Social Democratic Party structures was accompanied by the substantial changes in the social and economic program of the party. The process was completed on the institutional level in May 2005, when Smer joined both SI and PES, and on the level of political program on the Party Congress in December 2005. In the process of so called "socialdemocratisation" of "Smer" the international factor played crucial role, especially the need to have an international partner in the European Parliament. "Smer" met the standards of the Social Democratic identity only in the social and economic affairs. The other five dimensions - environmental policy, participative democracy, cultural and human-rights dimension, supra-national dimension and the dimension of equality and freedom "Smer" met only partially or not at all, so these process remains unfinished. According to some political declarations "Smer" remains the populist party and the uncompromising critic of the right-wing government of Mikuláš Dzurinda, on the other side the official documents of the party anticipate only the moderate corrections of the economical and social reforms, ...
This article aims to tease out the transformation of communist identity and the sense of legitimacy within the ruling parties of the Eastern Bloc (particularly Poland, Czechoslovakia and the GDR) in 1956. It explores how communist identity was negotiated and reshaped beyond the highest level of party leadership and prominent communist intellectuals and how ordinary party members perceived this ideological turnabout. It seeks to demonstrate how the sense of belonging was articulated in the reflection of the parties' recent past by ordinary party members on a local level: functionaries, apparatchiks, propagandists and local party historians. In the aftermath of 1956, communist and working class identities were seriously challenged by renewed national, ethnic, confessional or regional identities in a steady process of exclusion and inclusion. Examining the de-Stalinization "from below", the study concludes that despite the earthquake-like ideological upheavals a new form of identity emerged among the parties' rank-and-file that, centered around the parties as an imperfect yet heroic collective, secured the sense of legitimacy for the decades to come.
The paper comments on issues of conceptualisation and typology of regional parties in Europe. Regional parties could be defined briefly as independent formations with regional identity, region–based legitimacy and region–based electoral resources. The territorial aspect of their identity and of their modus operandi is the crucial one in this respect. It should be reminded that a number of heterogeneous party phenomena could be subsumed under the label of regional parties. The existence of a genuine regional party family, which could be, eventually, included into the classic familles spirituelles scheme, is not obvious. It seems that recent attempts to conceptualise the regional (and/or ethno–regional) party family have only small chance to success. Moreover, it should not be taken for granted that invention of such party family would enhance the capacity for comparative research into the European regional party phenomena. It could be a counter–productive move. There is an implicit danger to be avoided: that of conceiving of the differences between regional parties and non–regional parties as the differences between party families. However, these differences are not of the same kind. The paper proposes to distinguish several types of regional parties according to their origins (genuine regional autonomist parties, regionalized branches of state–wide parties etc.) which could allow for a sophisticated explanation of their heterogeneity and of various combinations of the systemic properties of regional parties. It is also suitable to pay more attention to the differing opportunity structures and to the compounded nature of territorial–political operational space of regional parties. ; The paper comments on issues of conceptualisation and typology of regional parties in Europe. Regional parties could be defined briefly as independent formations with regional identity, region–based legitimacy and region–based electoral resources. The territorial aspect of their identity and of their modus operandi is the crucial one ...
As with other communist successor parties, Germany's Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) enjoyed a political comeback in the mid-1990s. The PDS's success can be explained by many eastern German voters' disenchantment with the social, cultural, and economic effects of reunification as well as by the distinctive regional and fragmented character of the German Political Party System that allows the PDS, as the self-proclaimed defender of "eastern interests," disproportionate political influence. The PDS is faced with a dilemma, however. In the long-term it will have to become a true all-German party of the left if it wishes to survive electorally. Yet in becoming an all-German party the PDS risks losing the distinctive eastern identity that has been so essential to its success hitherto. ; As with other communist successor parties, Germany's Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) enjoyed a political comeback in the mid-1990s. The PDS's success can be explained by many eastern German voters' disenchantment with the social, cultural, and economic effects of reunification as well as by the distinctive regional and fragmented character of the German Political Party System that allows the PDS, as the self-proclaimed defender of "eastern interests," disproportionate political influence. The PDS is faced with a dilemma, however. In the long-term it will have to become a true all-German party of the left if it wishes to survive electorally. Yet in becoming an all-German party the PDS risks losing the distinctive eastern identity that has been so essential to its success hitherto.
The article discusses the outcomes of elections to the European Parliament in Austria in June 2004. Attitudes of relevant Austrian parties towards the European integration project are briefly discussed and placed on the theoretical scale that ranges from "Hard Euroscepticism" and "Identity Europeanism". The presented outcomes of the elections are put into the general context of the Austrian party system and voters' preferences since the middle 1980s. Special attention is given to the phenomenon of Hans-Peter Martin's populist list that won almost 14 % of the vote. Also, relatively low voter turnout is discussed. The Austrian example is very suitable for theorizing European elections as elections of less voters´ attention that is conceptualized at the end of the article.
