Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T02:05:59.346Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

5 - PARTIES OUT OF MOVEMENTS: PARTY EMERGENCE IN POSTCOMMUNIST EASTERN EUROPE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  26 February 2010

John K. Glenn
Affiliation:
Executive Director of the Council for European Studies, Columbia University
Jack A. Goldstone
Affiliation:
University of California, Davis
Get access

Summary

The essays in this volume challenge the distinction between social movements and institutional politics by arguing that movements are deeply entwined with normal politics. This essay extends this argument to the new democracies of Eastern Europe. It analyzes the transformation of the social movements that assumed power in new governments after the fall of communism, and shows how social movements may give rise to institutions of political consultation and accountability between states and their citizens. Yet, in the wake of rapid regime change and the absence of long-standing domestic models for democratic institutions, the antiregime social movements did not smoothly evolve into democratic parties. Rather, both international actors and domestic constituencies influenced divisions and conflicts, and produced different outcomes in each case.

The cases presented in this essay suggest that movements are transformed by governing and, moreover, that the parties that emerge from movements do not necessarily conform to standard notions of political parties. Initially, movements may form parties around political cleavages rather than the socioeconomic interests traditionally emphasized by the scholarly literature. Further, international actors may influence this development by encouraging movements to adopt new organizational forms and issues – areas lacking historical precedent. These forms and issues are not simply imitated, however, but are subsequently adapted to mobilize domestic public support. The results thus do not necessarily conform to Western parliamentary models of parties and politics.

To develop these claims, I compare the transformation of social movements into political parties in two countries, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×