Category Archives: political parties

Eastern Europe: Parties and the mirage of technocracy

Posted on 7 May 2013 by

Many commentators saw the governments of non-party technocrats formed in Greece and Italy in 2011 as an ill omen for development of party-based democracy in Europe. Established parties, it is suggested, are turning to technocratic caretaker administrations as a device … Continue reading →

Posted in Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, political parties | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Left with questions

Posted on 21 November 2012 by

I’m at conference on the Future of the Left in Central Europe in Prague co-organised by CESTA, one of the Czech Republic’s few centre-left thinktanks, and the German SPD’s Ebert Foundation, having been to an academic workshop on a similar … Continue reading →

Posted in Czech Republic, Hungary, left-wing politics, political parties | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Populism in Central and Eastern Europe Spectres of moderation?

Posted on 22 September 2011 by

Radicalism and extremism, especially of the far-right variety, hold an enduring hypnotic fascination for political scientists and journalists. Extremist populism and illiberal movements more generally, we are told, relentlessly on the rise in both Western and Eastern Europe. In countries … Continue reading →

Posted in academia, British politics, Bulgaria, CEE centre-right, CEE far-right, communism and post-communism, Poland, political parties, populism, Romania | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Klaus and the nationalist right: Catching a tiger by the tail?

Posted on 6 September 2011 by

A few weeks ago, a journalist from the Slovak daily Pravda got in touch with me and various other political scientists interested in Czech politics to ask how we thought President Václav Klaus, who had just turned 70, was regarded … Continue reading →

Posted in CEE centre-right, Czech politics, Czech Republic, euroscepticism, political parties, populism, TOP09, Václav Klaus | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Reykjavík diary

Posted on 29 August 2011 by

The  decision of the European Consortium for Political Research to stage its biennial (soon to annual) General Conference in Reykjavík has resulted in one of the biggest such events ever, with some 2000 political scientists temporarily boosting the Icelandic capital’s … Continue reading →

Posted in academia, Democracy, economic crisis, Iceland, political parties, political science | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Abe Lincoln on the beach

Posted on 3 August 2011 by

This small coastal town of Brittany is swathed with mist so early in the morning. There are only a couple places open to have breakfast, but there are a few people out and about including a woman with two small … Continue reading →

Posted in Book review, history, political parties, US politics | Leave a comment

Czech Republic: ‘Sovereignty’ a party to watch

Posted on 20 July 2011 by

Last year’s Czech elections  were noticeable for the political breakthrough of two new pro-market centre-right parties,  TOP09 and which contributed to large, if now very shaky, majority centre right coalition, TOP09 and Public Affairs (VV). A less well noted feature … Continue reading →

Posted in Czech politics, Czech Republic, political parties, populism, protest, Václav Klaus | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Setting the seal on CEELBAS: Parties and post-communism

Posted on 13 July 2011 by

The Centre for East European for Language Based Area Studies (CEELBAS) research consortium which has brought researchers interested in  various aspects of Russia and CEE at UCL, Birmingham, Oxford and beyond together in a variety of events and networks over … Continue reading →

Posted in academia, communism and post-communism, Poland, political parties | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

CEE parties: Gardeners’ World or Jurassic park?

Posted on 5 June 2011 by

A slow train wends it way through the tower blocks of South London to get me to plusher territory near Runnymede, where  Birmingham University’s Centre for Russian and East European Studies (CREES) is holding its annual research conference. As  ever … Continue reading →

Posted in communism and post-communism, political parties, political science, W European politics | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

>Chronicle of a (party) death foretold

Posted on 8 April 2011 by

> I am not always the most astute of pundits, but as the dust settled a year ago even I could see that the Veci veřejné (‘Public Affairs’), the anti-establishment, anti-corruption party that was the surprise package last May’s Czech … Continue reading →

Posted in centre-right, Czech politics, Czech Republic, ODS, political parties, populism, protest | 1 Comment