Tag Archives: parties

Czech democracy in the mirror: What the presidential elections tell us

Posted on 5 February 2013 by

The first direct elections of the Czech president offered a refreshing contrast to the back room manoeuvring and political horse-trading that accompanied the election in parliament of presidents Havel and (especially) Klaus. Despite the nastiness of the Zeman campaign and … Continue reading →

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Party government: All we want for Christmas is you…?

Posted on 27 December 2012 by

At an eye-watering £75 Hans Keman and Ferdinand Müller-Rommel’s new Party Government in the New Europe which came out earlier this year with Routledge is unlikely to have made it to under many people’s Christmas trees this year. It does, … Continue reading →

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A spectre of … something is haunting Europe

Posted on 18 October 2012 by

Photo: Tom Morris, via Wikicommons  At 8.30am I am sitting in a thinktank seminar on ‘subterranean politics’ in Europe.  At 8pm I am sitting in launch event for a book about populism in Europe and the America. It is a … Continue reading →

Posted in populism, protest, Uncategorized, W European politics | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Is there a Czech Berlusconi in the wings?

Posted on 21 January 2012 by

A recent report I read suggested that the travails of Public Affairs (VV) party had put voters in the Czech Republic off new political parties: VV, which burst from nowhere onto the political scene in the 2010 elections as an … Continue reading →

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The Lion sleeps tonight? Former Czech PM’s new party launches

Posted on 28 October 2011 by

I share a  bias with many political scientists working on political parties: I tend to over-rate new parties with political organisation and some real grassroots  presence and under-rate those which are top-down vehicles created for individual politicians. So I am … Continue reading →

Posted in Czech politics, Czech Republic, euroscepticism, left-wing politics, populism, TOP09, Uncategorized | 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

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