scholarly journals Towards conservatism? Party politics in Slovakia at the end of the 2010s

European View ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marián Sekerák

The Slovak political system has changed rapidly since the Republic’s formation in 1993. Today the number of ideologically conservative political parties is rapidly rising. This article clarifies some aspects of recent party-political developments in Slovakia. To provide an overview, only the most important social milestones have been taken into account. Specifically, the 2015 referendum on the protection of the ‘traditional family’, the mass civic protests that erupted in 2012 and 2018, and the business–mafia–political connections that have been exposed will be discussed.

Author(s):  
Lee Drutman

This chapter discusses how James Madison, considered the Father of the Constitution, thought the best way to preserve political stability was to divide factions so that none could ever form a permanent majority. Indeed, Madison and the Framers feared political parties, and thought they had devised a political system that would prevent parties from ever forming. They were wrong: As they quickly found out, political parties were necessary for modern mass democracy to function. However, they were also right: Above all, they feared just two parties, one of which would be a majority. Majorities, they understood, have a tendency to oppress minorities. Ultimately, their prescient warnings about a doom loop of toxic two-party politics resonate today. Today, America faces the same toxic partisanship the Framers understood would be fatal to democracy-the partisanship where every single policy confrontation collapses into one single irresolvable partisan conflict, where trust breaks down, and where political disagreement becomes about domination and victory over the other.


2000 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 119-136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ulrich Eith

On 9 November 1989, the government of the German DemocraticRepublic decided to open the Berlin Wall, effectively signaling thecollapse of the socialist system in East Germany. The subsequenttransformation of the country’s political structures, and in particularthat of its political parties, took place in two phases. In the firstphase, directly after the fall of the wall, the GDR’s political systemunderwent a radical democratic and pluralistic overhaul withoutWest German involvement—although the existence of a second Germanstate, the Federal Republic of Germany, naturally influencedthe goals, strategies, and scope of action of the actors concerned.


2008 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 367-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
YOUNGMI KIM

AbstractThis paper examines the internal dynamics of Korean political parties to understand why the minority coalition government of Kim Dae-jung suffered from political stalemate or deadlocks in the legislature. It shows that a focus on the size of the government in terms of a majority status in the legislature does not offer a convincing explanation of why the Kim Dae-jung administration slid towards ungovernability. Instead better insights come from an analysis of party organization, an aspect of party politics rarely examined through in-depth analysis. The paper shows that in terms of the key dimensions of organization (leadership type, factionalism, funding, linkage role) Korean political parties fail to connect citizens to the political system.


2008 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 287-304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zsolt Enyedi

As a result of various political and non-political developments, the socio-culturally anchored and well structured character of European party systems has come under strain. This article assesses the overall social embeddedness of modern party politics and identifies newly emerging conflict-lines. It draws attention to phenomena that do not fit into the trend of dealignment, and discusses the relationship between group-based politics and democratic representation.


2018 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-185
Author(s):  
Alexander Opitz

Abstract This article documents widespread connections between stock companies and active or retired politicians in Germany during two distinct political regimes: constitutional monarchy and democracy. These differed largely regarding possible channels of influence, along with the power of the parliament. Despite the theoretical differences, the overall share of connected firms is approximately the same, implying that linking up with the Reichstag was already attractive in Imperial times. Moreover, the prevalence of political connections varied largely between sectors and political parties.


2021 ◽  
pp. 017084062110109
Author(s):  
Emil Husted ◽  
Mona Moufahim ◽  
Martin Fredriksson

Organization scholars have extensively studied both the politics of organization and the organization of politics. Contributing to the latter, we argue for further and deeper consideration of political parties, since: (1) parties illuminate organizational dynamics of in- and exclusion; (2) internal struggles related to the constitution of identities, practices, and procedures are accentuated in parties; (3) the study of parties allow for the isolation of processes of normative and affective commitment; (4) parties prioritize and intensify normative control mechanisms; (5) party organizing currently represents an example of profound institutional change, as new (digital) formations challenge old bureaucratic models. Consequently, we argue that political parties should be seen as ‘critical cases’ of organizing, meaning that otherwise commonplace phenomena are intensified and exposed in parties. This allows researchers to use parties as magnifying glasses for zooming-in on organizational dynamics that may be suppressed or concealed by the seemingly non-political façade of many contemporary organizations. In conclusion, we argue that organization scholars are in a privileged position to investigate how political parties function today and how their democratic potential can be improved in the future. To this end, we call on Organization and Management Studies to engage actively with alternative parties in an attempt to explore and promote progressive change within the formal political system.


2019 ◽  
Vol 55 (5) ◽  
pp. 666-682
Author(s):  
Joseph Oti Frimpong

Supplementing literature study with in-depth unstructured interviews from the two dominant political parties in Ghana on how they mobilize funds, the key argument of this article is that the loss of a presidential election in Ghana is a reduction in a party’s major income streams. Unlike other studies that look at incumbency advantage in party funding from the angle of governments’ policies that weaken the opposition parties, this article analyses incumbency from their sources of funds. It fulfils two major objectives of identifying the sources of funds of political parties and establishing the link between these sources and incumbency.


1976 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-224 ◽  
Author(s):  
John A. Peeler

Colombia remains one of a very small group of countries in Latin America which retain competitive, liberal-democratic political institutions at this writing. Indeed, Colombia's civil government, recognizing a modicum of individual liberties and conducting periodic elections, has been shattered on relatively few occasions since the mid-nineteenth century, a record equalled or surpassed by few other Latin American countries. The Colombian political system is still dominated by the two traditional political parties (Liberal and Conservative) which arose in Colombia and elsewhere in the region in the nineteenth century. In almost every other country they have long since passed into oblivion or insignificance. This continued dominance by the traditional parties is commonly attributed to their successful mobilization of mass support, especially among the peasantry. The Colombian parties (unlike their counterparts elsewhere) early moved beyond being mere elite factions by using traditional authority relationships, clientelistic exchanges and ideological appeals to develop durable bases of mass support.


2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-125
Author(s):  
Martin Kuta

The paper deals with the European dimension of the competition and contention between Czech political parties and argues that domestic party interests undermine the formal oversight of EU politics by the Czech national parliament. Within the current institutional arrangements, national political parties assume stances – which are expressed through voting – towards the European Union (and European integration as such) as they act in the arena of national parliaments that are supposed to make the EU more accountable in its activities. Based on an analysis of roll-calls, the paper focuses on the ways the political parties assume their stances towards the EU and how the parties check this act by voting on EU affairs. The paper examines factors that should shape parties’ behaviour (programmes, positions in the party system, and public importance of EU/European integration issues). It also focuses on party expertise in EU/European issues and asserts that EU/European integration issues are of greater importance in extra-parliamentary party competition than inside the parliament, suggesting a democratic disconnect between voters and parliamentary behaviour. The study's empirical analysis of the voting behaviour of Czech MPs also shows that the parliamentary scrutiny introduced by the Lisbon Treaty is undermined by party interests within the system.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miftah Mohammed Kemal

Based on Secondary data the article analyzes party Politics in Ethiopia in light of its merits to building a democratic state and society in Ethiopia.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document