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The paper deals with the complex issue of (ethno)regional parties conceptualisation. Notions and schematics elaborated and promoted by Lieven de Winter, Klaus von Beyme, Donald L. Horowitz, Francisco Letamendía, Huri Türsan, Ferdinand Müller–Rommel Derek Urwin, John T. Ishiyama etc. are briefly discussed. Ethno–regional parties can be conceived of as political parties whose electoral and legitimation potential is primarily based on identitary mobilisation of an ethno–territorial community of sub–national (sub–state) nature. However, ethnic and territorial aspects may assume different relevance within the different approaches to the study of ethno–regional parties. It should be emphasized, that regional parties are not necessarily ethnic parties – and vice versa. Regional parties could be defined as formations with region–based electorate and mobilisation resources, or as formations representing sub–national (regional) interest communities exercising party functions to the full extent in a regionally defined operating space. Ethno–regional (ethno–regionalist) parties may thus be defined as a sort of regional (regionalist) parties. Finally, some issues of classification and typology of regional party arrangements are assessed. A lot of work is still to be done in this field. More attention should be paid to the heterogeneous nature of compounded territorial–political arrangements, which allows for the coexistence of different types of actors – political parties on the national (nation–wide) and regional level, as well as for simultaneous existence of diverse party and political scenes. To make a comprehensive typology of regional party (sub)systems is not an easy task at all. This is due to the persisting lack of suitable conceptual frameworks and to the fact that an effective reconciliation of the approach to nation–forming identitary and regionalist mobilisations used by regional parties with the traditional platform applied in research into European party systems has proved very difficult. ; The paper deals ...

This article tries to analyze the evolution of the Norwegian political and party systems which are considered to be exponents of the so-called Nordic model of political system. Besides describing attributes and trends of the political and party systems in Norway, the author deals with the election to the Stortinget held in September 2005. This electoral contest has brought new elements into the Norwegian political system, e. g. a new form of government composition and possibly new patterns of party competition (restructuring competing party-blocs, reinforcing cooperation between left-wing political parties). Adapted from the source document.

This article explores the spatial influences that shape the contemporary Czech party system & their consequences for the institutionalization of the party system. First, the regionalization of the party system is measured to identify the specific regional clusters of votes for individual parties. Second, after controlling for the impact of social cleavages, the independent effect of two macro- regions on the differences in voting decisions is analyzed. In the case of Moravia, no such independent effect is evident. Conversely, in the formerly German- inhabited Sudetenland there is an effect on the vote in the case of two parties (KSCM & ODS). The historical reasons for this spatial regime are briefly discussed. Finally, the relative insignificance of spatial regimes in the Czech party system is explained with reference to its high degree of nationalization (the level of spatial heterogeneity in regional voting results). The author employs spatial analytical techniques in the article, such as measures of spatial autocorrelation, the spatial regression model, & the Gini Index. The findings suggest that there is a high degree of spatial institutionalization of the Czech party system & relatively insignificant contextual effects at the macro- regional level.

The article deals with the concept of the advantage of "backwardness" and its use in comparative research on European parties and party systems. Politics in the "post-Rokkanian" world, characterized by de-aligning patterns of interest representation and intermediation, raises new questions and challenges in the field of research on political parties, pressure groups, and social movements. The text poses questions that should be asked in regard to this "post-Rokkanian" transformation of political processes connected to the opening of new research perspectives on multilevel party competition in European countries. The article elaborates the concept of the advantage of backwardness at three main levels: the organizational patterns of internal life within political parties, party systems, and interest intermediation systems generally. The article also tries to put the whole concept of the advantage of backwardness into the proper geopolitical and historical area in the framework of European countries. Adapted from the source document.

The paper deals with issues of conceptualization of regional parties & regional party arrangements. Regional parties could be defined briefly as independent formations with regional identity, region-based legitimacy & region-based electoral resources. The territorial aspect of their identity & of their modus operandi is the crucial one in this respect. Regional parties must not be mistaken for regional branches of state-wide or supra-regional parties, which are not fully autonomous, independent units. Similarly, it is necessary to distinguish between regional party systems & regional party subsystems. The basic difference between them consists in the presence or absence of relevant regional party or parties. The paper argues that new suitable conceptual frameworks are needed to develop a sophisticated explanation of various combinations of the systemic properties of regional parties & of their patterned interactions within regional as well as state-wide party arrangements. A multi-level approach should be fostered which would enable to assess thoroughly the differing opportunity structures & the nature of territorial-political operational space of regional parties. This might result in the making of complex models of territorial & party-political pluralisms. 26 References. Adapted from the source document.

The category of antisystemic actors is employed relatively often in political science. The aim of this article is two-fold. First, it criticizes the contemporary usage of "antisystemicity" as too self-contained an analytical concept. In order to demonstrate this, two key theoretical traditions of the term -- G. Sartori's classification of party systems & world-systemic ("Wallersteinian") research of international political economy & its challengers -- are described, analyzed & mutually compared. Their understanding of antisystemic protest is depicted in order to show some shortcomings & inadequacies of their usage of this category. Second, the article strives to theoretically & formally unfold, integrate & further develop the concept of antisystemic contention in order to clarify the modes of its usages for socio-political reality. This inquiry consists of analyses of three key factors of antisystemic collective action -- ie., its object, subject & relations in-between. The analysis of object is basically grounded in Luhmann's neofunctionalist theory of modernization. Based on a systems theory analysis of society, the article proceeds to grasp the subject-actor as a general & case insensitive category, thus connecting existing concepts of antisystemic political subjects. Further analyzed dimensions of antisystemic protest are its goals & forms of action, but also its penetration by politics & economy. In conclusion, a general three-dimensional typology of antisystemic collective action is drawn from preceding analyses & offered as a methodological tool for empirical research of political contention. Adapted from the source document.

The article discusses the definition & typology of anti-system parties. It is based on the classical definition by Giovanni Sartori, which is in my opinion not obsolete. On the contrary it is still very usable, but under the condition that we stay on the ground of party theory & party systems, & not transfer it to the field of democratic theory. The next part of the text focuses on Giovanni Capoccia's attempt in 2002 to modify Sartori's theory & create a new typology of anti-system parties is very interesting but not very progressive. It seems that Capoccia makes the same, or at least very similar, propositions as Sartori. I think we should call "anti-system" only those parties which conform to Sartori's rigorous definition. The parties conforming to Sartori's wide definition should not be named "anti-system" but rather "extreme." So, we have two separate categories of opposition parties: 1) anti-system, & 2) extreme. The first one is ideological opposition against the political system. The second is simply extreme, radical opposition against the government, or at the most, against some part of the political system, but not against the system as a whole. The second main proposition of the article concerns the problem of a typology of anti-system parties. According to the view mentioned above & based on Capoccia's typology, I have created a modified typology. It correlates two parameters, ideological & relational. The result is five types of parties: anti-system parties, extreme parties, irrelevant anti-system parties, camouflaged anti-system parties, & pro-system parties. Adapted from the source document.

The article discusses the concept of cleavages in the 21st century. Cleavages are understood as the criteria dividing members of a community or sub-community into groups. The application of the original Lipset & Rokkan cleavage theory on the current socio-political reality can be done only with difficulties, or at the price of considerable simplification (which is the consequence of the defreezing of party systems). Therefore on the basis of the work of Mair & Bartolini, the article looks for the criteria "that makes cleavage a cleavage." Furthermore, using the example of the digital divide concept, it is shown there are at present latent cleavages in society, but their "strength" & importance is dependent on their saliency (in connection with political actor behavior). This leads to the assumption that current cleavages are "dynamic" rather than "static.". Adapted from the source document.

The study of the Bulgarian system of political parties assumed a relatively important position in the context of research in the genesis of party and political arrangements in post-communist countries of Central, South-East and Eastern Europe in the 1990s. It can be said that, in spite of certain delay, Bulgarian multipartism became one of the privileged subjects of that research, similarly to post-communist pluralisms in Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic (and/or Czechoslovakia). The attention given to Bulgarian party system was not a mere coincidence. The fact is that apart from some endemic peculiarities, Bulgarian multipartism also showed – and still, to a large extent, shows - some distinct features of indisputable interest and importance for the construction of models of formation of pluralist party systems, features linked especially with the complex phenomenon of Bulgarian post-communist party and political (bi)polarisation and its medium and long term system forming consequences. This article is a contribution to the discussion about the remarkable aspects of Bulgarian post-communist multipartism. In this perspective, special attention will be paid to links between the Bulgarian model of major pole dualism (Union of Democratic Forces, SDS, and Bulgarian Socialist Party, BSP), the format of its party system and the systemic effect of the "extended" ("protracted") initial social and political polarisation. In this context, also some partial issues related with the evolution of the potential and role of "third parties" in present-day Bulgarian context will be briefly addressed. ; The study of the Bulgarian system of political parties assumed a relatively important position in the context of research in the genesis of party and political arrangements in post-communist countries of Central, South-East and Eastern Europe in the 1990s. It can be said that, in spite of certain delay, Bulgarian multipartism became one of the privileged subjects of that research, similarly to post-communist pluralisms in ...

This article intends to present a thorough analysis of the development of the Civic Democratic Party from the beginnings of its existence until 1998 -- i.e. the year which can be seen as the breaking point in its history. The main proposition is that the Civic Democratic Party has emerged as the representative of the most widespread tendencies & opinions established within Civic Forum & accordingly should be seen as the major expression of initial political visions, which were increasingly predominant in the first months after the regime change in 1989. Consequently, the article elaborates to a much detailed degree further developments within the Civic Democratic Party & its position within the party system -- here, the underlying intention is to contribute to a deeper understanding of the behaviour & actions taken by the Civic Democratic Party & its leadership, thus making it possible to explain the logic of its position within the party system & of many particular events, in various ways related to the Civic Democratic Party, throughout the period in question. 6 References. Adapted from the source document.

The major purpose of the article is to assess the contribution of the study of parties and party arrangements in Southeast Asian and Oceanian (particularly Melanesian and Polynesian) polities to contemporary comparative party research, as well as to party theory-building. The sub-continental frameworks of Southeast Asia and Oceania offer a large range of opportunities for comparative enterprises. However, the development of innovative theorizing drawing from investigations into Southeast Asian and Oceanian party phenomena has been constrained by persisting inconsistencies in the conceptualization and/or categorization of party arrangements, and -- even more importantly -- by a low awareness of methodological and epistemological problems that are involved in cross-area comparisons. The authors argue that a reassessment of research strategies is needed in order to change this situation. Adapted from the source document.

This article focuses on the classification of the cabinets in power during the era of the independent Czech Republic. The question we ask is whether we can generally identify any prevailing type of cabinet. Our conclusion is that there were mostly minimal winning coalitions based on the cooperation of ideologically distant political parties or minority cabinets. None of these versions provided government stability. Another aim of the text is to analyze the influence of party & electoral systems on governance. In this respect we tried to answer the question, what would contribute to the smoother formation of Czech governments & their increased stability? The crucial negative factor we identified in the sphere of the party system is the existence of a radical party with minimal coalition potential -- the Communist Party of Bohemia & Moravia. In our opinion, however, this fact can be changed by regular coalition cooperation with the Czech Social Democratic Party. We believe that as far as electoral system modifications are concerned, a positive factor could be represented by a reform that would introduce the mandate premium awarded to the winning coalition or party & at the same time a single electoral district. This would strengthen the position of the election winner & ensure greater homogeneity of governments. It would also eliminate the disproportion between the real electoral support of small parties & their significantly lower number of mandates won. Adapted from the source document.

The collapse of the Italian "partitocrazia" in the early 1990s was followed by the emergence of a completely new party system. All but one of the relevant parties from the previous regime were affected by corruption scandals & had to struggle for survival. This situation created opportunities for the originally protest parties (LN), for transformed parties (AN, PDS) & for new political actors (FI). Forced by the logic of the mixed electoral system, these parties quickly started to form pre-election coalitions that were intended to guarantee political relevance for the small parties & to secure electoral victory for the bigger parties. The center of the political continuum has consequently been deserted in the last three elections. Any political actor situated between the two principal coalitions would be mercilessly squeezed or absorbed by them. Therefore, the Italian party system has gradually become a bipolar one. This means that the system has turned into a competitive one & has opened a possibility for alternation. Graphs, References. Adapted from the source document.