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POLITICAL PARTIES ARE CENTRAL TO THE PROCESS OF DEMOCRATIZATION IN EAST-CENTRAL EUROPE. IN CONTRAST TO THE MANY STUDIES THAT LOOK AT THE INSTABILITY OF NEW PARTIES AND PARTY SYSTEMS, THIS ARTICLE FOCUSES ON PARTY ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT. FIRST, A HYPOTHESIS IS PUT FORWARD CONTENDING THAT PARTIES IN THE REGION ARE LIKELY TO DEVELOP AS FORMATIONS WITH LOOSE ELECTORAL CONSTITUENCIES, UNIMPORTANT MEMBERSHIP AND A DOMINANT ROLE PLAYED BY PARTY LEADERS. SECOND, THIS HYPOTHESIS IS TESTED ON A SAMPLE OF SIX PARTIES FROM THE CZECH REPUBLIC. THE ANALYSIS SHOWS THAT CERTAIN VARIATIONS IN ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE EXIST, DERIVING FROM THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN OLD PARTIES AND NEWLY ESTABLISHED PARTIES, THE FORMER DEVIATING FROM THE HYPOTHESIS TO A GREATER EXTENT THAN THE LATTER.

Despite the growing number of empirically grounded assessments, most notably of degrees of democratic consolidation within East-Central Europe, there is still very little agreement on what exactly is democratic transition & consolidation or on what explains the seemingly widening gap between East-Central Europe on the one hand & the Balkans & post-Soviet republics on the other hand. We believe that at least part of the answer lies in two underdeveloped topics of the democratization literature, state- & nation-building (the "third" transition) & the international dimension. Moreover, to uncover the answers, democratization studies would greatly profit from expanding its disciplinary & geographical constraints, ie, by integrating research from, most notably, nationalism studies & international relations, as well as democratization studies of the "first wave.". 114 References. Adapted from the source document.

THE AUTHORS ANALYZE THE CONTEMPORARY PROCESS OF CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM IN EASTERN EUROPE AND DRAW LESSONS FOR SIMILAR REFORMS IN BRITAIN. THEY LOOK FIRST AT ELECTORAL ENGINEERING AND SHOW HOW POLITICAL ACTORS, PURSUING THEIR OWN INTERESTS, TRY TO TURN PROPORTIONALITY BACK INTO MAJORITARIANISM AND HOW AND WHY SUCH MOVES DO NOT NECESSARILY PRODUCE THEIR PROJECTED OUTCOMES. IN A SIMILAR VEIN, THEY ANALYZE FORMAL PARLIAMENTARY RULES, SUCH AS STANDING ORDERS, AND DEMONSTRATE HOW ATTEMPTS TO MANIPULATE THEM CAN BE OFFSET, NOT JUST BY COUNTERMANIPULATION, BUT BY UNDERLYING INFORMAL RULES AND CULTURAL NORMS. BECAUSE CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGE IS AN ONGOING POLITICAL PROCESS, ITS RESULTS ARE NEITHER WHOLLY PREDICTABLE NOR ALWAYS WELCOMED. ON THE BASIS OF THE EASTERN EUROPEAN EXPERIENCE, IT APPEARS THAT CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGE DOES NOT NECESSARILY LEAD TO INCREASED LEGITIMACY OF THE SYSTEM.

This article looks at the patterns of party financing in the relatively recently established democracies of Southern & Eastern Europe, with a particular emphasis on the relative importance of the state & society as financial contributors to political parties. Our reassessment of the practice of party financing in these new democratic polities shows that public funding has become a critical source of income in all of the democracies considered here. However, the article also shows that the importance of public money does not unequivocally rule out the relevance of society. Rather than through membership subscriptions, however, society seems to have acquired a special relevance as an illicit source of party financing. We argue that money accrued from corrupt sources may nevertheless reinforce rather than counterbalance the parties' overall dependence on & orientation towards the state, especially since illicit financing tends to be most profitable for government parties in exploiting the spoils of office. We also argue that the predominance of state money may act to freeze the status quo of the party system & hence achieve a sense of stability that may otherwise be difficult to achieve in the context of relatively vulnerable party organisations & unstable party systems. Adapted from the source document.