In:
Revue d’études comparatives Est-Ouest, PERSEE Program, Vol. 27, No. 3 ( 1996), p. 5-29
Kurzfassung:
Electoral behaviour in Central and Eastern Europe. The author describes and analyses some common features of electoral behaviour in Central and Eastern Europe, starting from the results of 15 free parliamentary elections held in this area since 1989. The analysis looks at the evolution of the post-communist vote, the growing electoral abstention, the volatility of the vote, and the fragmentation of parliamentary representation resulting from the break-up of the parties and the dissipation of the vote. The loyalty of the big national minorities to their respective parties is emphasised (in fact, they are the only loyal voters), and the article examines the difficulties of public opinion polls in forecasting electoral behaviour in the countries concerned. The article ends with a comparison between the political effects of the first free parliamentary elections in Central and Eastern Europe, on the one hand, and in Latin American and South European countries, on the other. The author points out that the concept of "founding elections", elaborated from the experience of this second set of countries, does not apply in Eastern Europe, because in this area the first democratic elections did not lead the party system to "gell". Hungary is the only exception, being the only country where the same parties were found in the first and the second parliaments.
Materialart:
Online-Ressource
ISSN:
0338-0599
DOI:
10.3406/receo.1996.2798
Sprache:
Französisch
Verlag:
PERSEE Program
Publikationsdatum:
1996
ZDB Id:
2375315-8
ZDB Id:
193017-5
SSG:
8
