Coalition Formation and the Regime Divide in New Democracies: East Central Europe

2001 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 85 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Grzymala-Busse
Keyword(s):  
Central Europe ◽  
Coalition Formation ◽  
New Democracies ◽  
East Central Europe ◽  
East Central ◽  
Regime Divide

Introduction: The State of Democracy 20 Years on

2012 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacques Rupnik ◽  
Jan Zielonka
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Democratic Transition ◽  
The State ◽  
New Democracies ◽  
The European Union ◽  
East Central Europe ◽  
East Central ◽  
The Eu

The countries of East-Central Europe (ECE) embarked on a democratic transition in 1989 were proclaimed consolidated democracies when they joined the European Union (EU) in 2004. Today most of the new democracies are experiencing “democratic fatigue” and some seem vulnerable to an authoritarian turn. The EU, seen as the guarantor of the post-1989 democratic changes, is experiencing an unprecedented economic, financial, and democratic crisis with the combined challenges of technocracy and populism. The article explores the different approaches to the study of democracies in ECE, their specific features and vulnerabilities, and tries to provide an interpretation of the premature crisis of democracy in ECE in a broader transeuropean context.

Embattled executives: Prime ministerial weakness in East Central Europe

2007 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas A. Baylis
Keyword(s):  
Central Europe ◽  
Party System ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
New Democracies ◽  
East Central Europe ◽  
East Central ◽  
Central European ◽  
Prime Ministers ◽  
Elite Recruitment ◽  
East Central European

In a period in which ‘‘strong’’ and even ‘‘presidential’’ prime ministers have arguably become more the rule than the exception in the major states of Western Europe, most prime ministers in the new democracies of East Central Europe appear to have been relatively weak figures. This article investigates the reasons for that relative weakness in the ten East Central European countries, which together have had 87 prime ministers in the 16 years since the fall of Communism. It evaluates several possible explanations: party system weakness, the institutional structure, elite recruitment patterns, and policy constraints. It then seeks to explain several notable exceptions to the prime ministerial weakness rule.

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