Sergiu Gherghina - Böcker

Democratic Innovations in Central and Eastern Europe expands research on democratic innovations by looking specifically at different forms of democratic innovations in Central and Eastern Europe.The book covers direct democracy (referendums in particular), deliberative democracy practices and e-participation – forms which are salient in practice because they match the political realities of our time. Expert contributors show how the recent actions of ordinary citizens in several Central and Eastern European countries have challenged the contemporary political order, and grassroots movements and diverse forms of mobilization have challenged the notion of weak civil societies in the East. The empirical evidence presented attempts to deepen citizen involvement in political contexts sometimes quite different from the democratic political systems in the Western world. Using lessons from a still largely underexplored part of Europe, the book both complements and revises theoretical approaches, or complements empirical results in existing studies on democratic innovations.Democratic Innovations in Central and Eastern Europe will be of great interest to scholars working on democracy, political systems, political engagement, and Central and Eastern European politics. The chapters originally published as a special issue of Contemporary Politics.

Political parties in post-communist countries have very high levels of electoral volatility. In these environments, political factions fail to establish long-term connections with the electorate and thus regularly rise and fall from the political arena.This book provides an organizational explanation for the variations in party-level electoral volatility. It looks comparatively at 29 political parties in six Central and Eastern European democracies between 1990 and 2008 to examine how political parties can influence their electoral environment. Using empirical evidence, Gherghina tests the effect of candidate selection procedures, membership organizations, and re-nomination of incumbent MPs on voters’ loyalty, and in doing so, demonstrates how party organization greatly affects electoral stability. Including case studies from Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia this book will be of interest to students and scholars of comparative politics, party politics, democratization, elections, and Central and Eastern European politics.

Democratic Innovations in Central and Eastern Europe expands research on democratic innovations by looking specifically at different forms of democratic innovations in Central and Eastern Europe.The book covers direct democracy (referendums in particular), deliberative democracy practices and e-participation – forms which are salient in practice because they match the political realities of our time. Expert contributors show how the recent actions of ordinary citizens in several Central and Eastern European countries have challenged the contemporary political order, and grassroots movements and diverse forms of mobilization have challenged the notion of weak civil societies in the East. The empirical evidence presented attempts to deepen citizen involvement in political contexts sometimes quite different from the democratic political systems in the Western world. Using lessons from a still largely underexplored part of Europe, the book both complements and revises theoretical approaches, or complements empirical results in existing studies on democratic innovations.Democratic Innovations in Central and Eastern Europe will be of great interest to scholars working on democracy, political systems, political engagement, and Central and Eastern European politics. The chapters originally published as a special issue of Contemporary Politics.

Although party membership has been extensively analysed in the EU Members States from Western and Eastern Europe, there is a gap in systematic data collection and analyses for the other countries in the Balkans and post-Soviet region.This book provides new and innovative insights in the area of party membership research to analyse the evolution of membership organizations in political parties from under-investigated countries. Specifically, it seeks to understand the way in which political parties and the national legislation conceptualize the notion of membership within and across countries. It provides original data and affords a first comprehensive, comparative study of party members in the EU neighbouring countries, which resonate particular interest because some of them occupy the "precarious middle ground between a full-fledge democracy and outright dictatorship". In light of these relevant observations, this systematic analysis of membership evolutions in democratizing countries brings valuable insights for the study of party politics in general. This text will be of key interest to scholars and students of political parties and party systems, party organisation and elections, post-Soviet and East European politics and more broadly to democratization studies and comparative politics.

This book presents a systematic account of the relationship between political parties and deliberative democracy.It shows which parties prefer deliberation, how intra-party deliberation takes place in practice beyond theoretical models and general descriptions, and how political elites and party members perceive deliberative democracy. Specifically, the book answers how party characteristics influence the use of deliberation by political parties, why intra-party deliberation differs in its use and functioning across parties, and how politicians and party members see deliberation.This book is of key interest to scholars and students of party politics, deliberative democracy, democratic innovations, political theory, and, more broadly, comparative politics.Chapter 13 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

This book presents a systematic account of the relationship between political parties and deliberative democracy.It shows which parties prefer deliberation, how intra-party deliberation takes place in practice beyond theoretical models and general descriptions, and how political elites and party members perceive deliberative democracy. Specifically, the book answers how party characteristics influence the use of deliberation by political parties, why intra-party deliberation differs in its use and functioning across parties, and how politicians and party members see deliberation.This book is of key interest to scholars and students of party politics, deliberative democracy, democratic innovations, political theory, and, more broadly, comparative politics.Chapter 13 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Although party membership has been extensively analysed in the EU Members States from Western and Eastern Europe, there is a gap in systematic data collection and analyses for the other countries in the Balkans and post-Soviet region.This book provides new and innovative insights in the area of party membership research to analyse the evolution of membership organizations in political parties from under-investigated countries. Specifically, it seeks to understand the way in which political parties and the national legislation conceptualize the notion of membership within and across countries. It provides original data and affords a first comprehensive, comparative study of party members in the EU neighbouring countries, which resonate particular interest because some of them occupy the "precarious middle ground between a full-fledge democracy and outright dictatorship". In light of these relevant observations, this systematic analysis of membership evolutions in democratizing countries brings valuable insights for the study of party politics in general. This text will be of key interest to scholars and students of political parties and party systems, party organisation and elections, post-Soviet and East European politics and more broadly to democratization studies and comparative politics.

Political parties in post-communist countries have very high levels of electoral volatility. In these environments, political factions fail to establish long-term connections with the electorate and thus regularly rise and fall from the political arena.This book provides an organizational explanation for the variations in party-level electoral volatility. It looks comparatively at 29 political parties in six Central and Eastern European democracies between 1990 and 2008 to examine how political parties can influence their electoral environment. Using empirical evidence, Gherghina tests the effect of candidate selection procedures, membership organizations, and re-nomination of incumbent MPs on voters’ loyalty, and in doing so, demonstrates how party organization greatly affects electoral stability. Including case studies from Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia this book will be of interest to students and scholars of comparative politics, party politics, democratization, elections, and Central and Eastern European politics.

The way we engage with politics today has radically shifted. Practices of Democracy: An Introduction is the first comparative politics textbook which offers an engaging assessment of different forms of democracy. With an in-depth yet accessible exploration of four models of democracy – representative, direct, deliberative and technocratic models of government – this book shows how democracy can be strengthened and saved in times of crisis. Taking a truly global perspective, examples of models of democracy are used to bring theory to life, to show how politics operates today. This pathbreaking new textbook spans all the core concerns of politics – from elections and voting to the role of political parties and legislatures, from political communication to migration and populism. Today, the role of referendums, citizen assemblies and experts shape our societies in profound ways. Packed with case studies and features, this textbook is essential reading for anyone studying democracies, democratic innovations and Comparative Politics, whether at the undergraduate or postgraduate level. Sergiu Gherghina is Associate Professor in Comparative Politics at Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Glasgow, UK.Jean-Benoit Pilet is Professor of Political Science at the Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium.Jane Suiter is Professor of Political Communication in the School of Communications at Dublin City University, Ireland.

The way we engage with politics today has radically shifted. Practices of Democracy: An Introduction is the first comparative politics textbook which offers an engaging assessment of different forms of democracy. With an in-depth yet accessible exploration of four models of democracy – representative, direct, deliberative and technocratic models of government – this book shows how democracy can be strengthened and saved in times of crisis. Taking a truly global perspective, examples of models of democracy are used to bring theory to life, to show how politics operates today. This pathbreaking new textbook spans all the core concerns of politics – from elections and voting to the role of political parties and legislatures, from political communication to migration and populism. Today, the role of referendums, citizen assemblies and experts shape our societies in profound ways. Packed with case studies and features, this textbook is essential reading for anyone studying democracies, democratic innovations and Comparative Politics, whether at the undergraduate or postgraduate level. Sergiu Gherghina is Associate Professor in Comparative Politics at Department of Politics and International Studies, University of Glasgow, UK.Jean-Benoit Pilet is Professor of Political Science at the Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium.Jane Suiter is Professor of Political Communication in the School of Communications at Dublin City University, Ireland.

This book explores the relationship between the personality of political leaders, its interaction with top leadership positions and its impact on the respective parties' electoral performance and organization.

This book explores the relationship between the personality of political leaders, its interaction with top leadership positions and its impact on the respective parties' electoral performance and organization.

It unfolds the complex relationship between distributive politics and clientelism, and conceptualizes electoral clientelism as a dynamic process that occurs through different sequences.

It unfolds the complex relationship between distributive politics and clientelism, and conceptualizes electoral clientelism as a dynamic process that occurs through different sequences.