This title was first published in 2001. Based on a unique set of structured interviews with parliamentarians and additional interviews with party leaders and activists, this significant volume provides an illuminating account of the formation of the new democracies in Czechoslovakia and later, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Examining efforts to construct stable democratic parliamentary regimes in the wake of communist breakdown, it provides a rigorous analysis of parliaments’ relations with the electorate and the executive, as well as their internal working. Richly detailed and clearly written, this original study is an invaluable addition to the collection of anyone interested in post-communist Europe or parliamentary studies.

When this book first published in 1990, several ‘new’ democracies were emerging in Southern Europe. Italy, Portugal, Spain and Greece were generally seen as conforming to the western European model of liberal democracy. But the process of democratization is a gradual one, and each national democracy is moulded by its own political, social, and economic characteristics. In particular, the active role of national political parties is of prime importance. The contributors to this volume focus on party systems in the democracies of Greece, Spain and Portugal since the end of their authoritarian regimes, and on Italy in the post-war period. This title will be of interest to students of politics, European Studies, and development studies.

No detailed description available for "Party Governments".

This volume has been designed as a key resource in the field of international political leadership research. Written by a team of distinguished leadership scholars from three continents and nine countries, the original chapters gathered in this volume cover all the major fields of political leadership, from executive, legislative and party leadership to leadership in social movements and international organizations. The special value and appeal of this book relates to its genuinely comparative focus that characterizes all chapters.