Patterns of political instability: Affiliation patterns of politicians and voters in post-communist Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania

In contrast to established party systems, the transformation of post-communist party systems is not only shaped by shifts in electoral preferences, but also by the changing organizational loyalties of politicians. Post-communist politicians pursue a range of organizational strategies such as party f...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inStudies in comparative international development Vol. 38; no. 2; pp. 76 - 98
Main Authors Kreuzer, Marcus, Pettai, Vello
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York Springer Nature B.V 01.06.2003
Subjects
Affiliation
Development studies
Estonia
Latvia
Lithuania
Party politics
Political Change
Political instability
Political Parties
Political Systems
Politicians
Post-communist societies
Postcommunism
Postcommunist Societies
Studies
Voters
Voting behaviour
Eastern Europe
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Summary:In contrast to established party systems, the transformation of post-communist party systems is not only shaped by shifts in electoral preferences, but also by the changing organizational loyalties of politicians. Post-communist politicians pursue a range of organizational strategies such as party fusions, fissions, start-ups, and interparty switching. By focusing on the interaction between these organizational strategies and voters' electoral preferences, we argue that the seeming instability of post-communist party systems actually reveals distinct patterns of political change. The article develops an analytical framework, which incorporates politician-driven interparty mobility and voter-induced electoral change. It uses this framework to show that the apparently inchoate party systems of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania actually follow definable modes of transformation. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
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ISSN:0039-3606
1936-6167
DOI:10.1007/BF02686269