Some Determinants of Political Party Development in Emerging Democracies of CEE

Democratic political parties have developed in the emerging democracies of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) since the beginning of the 1990s, when political parties in well-established democracies were undergoing organizational transformation. The latter weakened their ties with society and strengthened their relations with the state using its resources. This influenced the development of parties in CEE countries, as they followed Western patterns to a certain degree. But whereas parties in developed democracies were usually well-rooted in society, represented social cleavages, had mass membership, were financed by membership fees, and changed only subsequently; parties in CEE did not manage to create strong relations with society before they took part in elections. There was a lack of clear social cleavages, and parties were created by political elites rather than social groups or movements, thus they oft en became a part of the state institutions even before they tried to establish roots in society.1 While in Western Europe mass political mobilization preceded the building of party structures and participation inelections, “party formation in newly established democracies generally followed a different trajectory, as parties engaged in mass electoral competition before developing their party organization” (van Biezen 2003: 30). Consequently, such parties gained representation in parliament, and sometimes even executive power, before creating extra-parliamentary organizations. This clearly weakened their structures to a large degree.

Also important here is that parties from CEE countries have undergone some changes similar to their counterparts in Western Europe in terms of mediatization, personalization, and prezidentialization of party politics (Poguntke and Webb 2005). In well-developed democracies, these processes have altered the mechanisms of political communication, and strengthened the positions of party leaders at the expense of other party structures. In Central and Eastern European countries, such changes had occurred before the organizational structures of political parties were fully formed, thus their effects were even stronger, and the power of party leaders in relation to other party bodies has become very significant. Th fact that some parties have not experienced alternation of leadership, and are still governed by their “founding fathers” is an additional incentive to strengthen the power of party chairmen. These parties are oft en perceived as “the property of the founder.”