Abstract
Throughout Western Europe, parliaments are unrepresentative of their populations’ social structure and this was also the case with post-communist parliaments, where striking change in the social composition of deputies was evident from the outset. We have noted that the Soviet concept of representation placed great stress on parliament as a reflection of the social character of the population. Although communist parliamentarians never provided a precise mirror image of their populations, their social composition was indeed wider than that characteristic of the West. Yet the composition of the new freely chosen legislatures was far narrower than that of their communist predecessors; generally, it became more so with successive elections. The speed with which the new parliaments came to resemble their Western counterparts was a feature of post-communist political transformation, though the resemblance was far from exact. There were also some considerable differences between countries.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes
Pippa Norris, ‘Legislative Recruitment’ in Lawrence LeDuc, Richard Niemi and Pippa Norris, eds, Comparing Democracies, London: Sage, 1996, p. 186.
Michael GallÁgher and Michael Marsh, ‘Conclusion’ in Michael GallÁgher and Michael Marsh, eds, Candidate Selection in Comparative Perspective, London: Sage 1988, p. 265.
Eric A. Nordlinger, ‘Representation, Governmental Stability, and Decisional Effectiveness’ in J. Roland Pennock and John W. Chapman, eds, Representation, New York: Atherton, 1968, pp. 113–14.
Iain McLean, ‘Forms of Representation and Systems of Voting’ in David Held, ed., Political Theory Today, Cambridge: Polity Press, 1991, p. 175.
Hanna Pitkin, The Concept of Representation, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1967, p. 63.
Steven Saxonberg, ‘Women in East European Parliaments’, Journal of Democracy, vol. 11, no. 2, April 2000, p. 146.
Peter Vanneman, The Supreme Soviet: Politics and the Legislative Process in the Soviet Political System, Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1977.
Daniel Nelson and Stephen White, Communist Legislatures in Comparative Perspective, London and Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1982.
Robert Siegler, The Standing Commissions of the Supreme Soviet, New York: Praeger, 1982.
David Lane, Politics and Society in the USSR, London: Martin Robertson, 1978 (2nd edn), pp. 154–6.
Petr Kopecký, Parliaments in the Czech and Slovak Republics. Party Competition and Parliamentary Institutionalization, Aldershot: Ashgate, 2001, p. 61.
David Olson, ‘The New Parliaments of New Democracies: The Experience of the Federal Assembly of the Czech and Slovak Republics’ in Attila Ágh, ed., The Emergence of Central European Parliaments: The First Steps, Budapest: Hungarian Centre of Democracy Studies, 1994, pp. 42–3.
Gabriella Ilonszki, ‘Legislative Recruitment: Personnel and Institutional Development in Hungary, 1990–94’ in Gábor Tóka and Zsolt Enyedi, eds, Elections to the Hungarian National Assembly 1994. Analyses, Documents and Data, Berlin: Sigma, 1999, p. 85.
Richard Sakwa, ‘The Russian Elections of December 1993’, Europe-Asia Studies, vol. 47, no. 2, 1995, pp. 198–9.
E. Janos Farkas and Agnes Vajda, ‘Candidates for Parliament’ in Gàbor Tóka, ed., The 1990 Election to the Hungarian National Assembly. Analyses, Documents and Data, Berlin: Sigma, 1995, p. 82 (Table 13).
G. Loewenburg, ‘The New Political Leadership of Central Europe: The Example of the New Hungarian National Assembly’ in Thomas F. Remington, ed., Parliaments in Transition. The New Legislative Politics in the Former USSR and Eastern Europe, Boulder: Westview Press, 1994, p. 45.
Jiri Pehe, ‘Elections Result in Surprise Stalemate’, Transition, vol. 2, no. 13, 28 June 1996, p. 36.
Lukáš Fila, ‘Who is ANO: TV & Sports Figures, Field Experts but not Politicians’, Slovak Spectator, 12–18 August 2002.
Timothy J. Colton and Michael McFaul, ‘Reinventing Russia’s Party of Power: “Unity” and the 1999 Duma Election’, Post-Soviet Affairs, vol. 16, no. 3, 2000, pp. 201–24.
Richard Rose and Neil Munro, Elections without Order. Russia’s Challenge to Vladimir Putin, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002, p. 138.
Eric S. Herron, ‘Mixed Electoral Rules and Party Strategies. Responses to Incentives by Ukraine’s Rukh and Russia’s Yabloko’, Party Politics, vol. 8, no. 6, November 2002, pp. 719–33.
Bernard Tamas, ‘Parties on Stage: Evaluating the Performance of Hungarian Parties’ in Gábor Tóka and Zsolt Enyedi, eds, Elections to the Hungarian National Assembly 1994. Analyses, Documents and Data, Berlin: Sigma, 1999, p. 41.
Michael Gallagher and Michael Marsh, eds, Candidate Selection in Comparative Perspective, London: Sage, 1988.
Gabriella Ilonszki, ‘Consolidation of Hungarian Democracy’ in Dirk Berg-Schlosser and Raivo Vetik, eds, Perspectives on Democratic Consolidation in Central and Eastern Europe, Boulder: East European Monographs, 2001, p. 101.
Aleks Szczerbiak, Poles Together. Emergence and Development of Political Parties in Post-Communist Poland, Budapest: CEU Press, 2001, pp. 51–5.
Vello Pettai and Marcus Kreuzer, ‘Party Politics in the Baltic States: Social Bases and Institutional Conflicts’, East European Politics and Societies, vol. 13, no. 1, winter 1999, p. 162.
L. Wolosky, ‘Putin’s Plutocrat Problem’, Foreign Affairs, vol. 79, no. 2, 2000, pp. 18–31.
Attila Ágh, ‘The Hungarian Party System and Party Theory in the Transition of Central Europe’, Journal of Theoretical Politics, vol. 6, no. 2, 1994, pp. 227, 230.
Joel Heilman, Geraint Jones and Daniel Kaufman, ‘Seize the State, Seize the Day: An Empirical Analysis of State Capture and Corruption in Transition Economies’, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 2444, World Bank: Washington, DC., 2000, pp. 1–41.
Andrei Schleifer and Daniel Treisman, Without a Map: Political Tactics and Economic Reform in Russia, Cambridge: MIT Press, 2000.
Walter Connor, Socialism, Politics and Equality, New York: Columbia University Press, 1979.
Michael D. Kennedy, Professionals, Power and Solidarity in Poland, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991, Table 7.1, p. 245.
András Bozóki, ‘Introduction’ in András Bozóki, ed., Intellectuals and Politics in Central Europe, Budapest: Central European Press, 1999, p. 1.
J. Widacki, Czego nie powiedział Generał Kiszczak, Warsaw: BGW, 1992, pp. 45, 47.
George Schöpfłin, ‘Opposition and Para-Opposition: Critical Currents in Hungary, 1968–78’ in Rudolf Tőkés, ed., Opposition in Eastern Europe, London: Macmillan, 1979, pp. 142–86.
Joni Lovenduski and Jean Woodall, Politics and Society in Eastern Europe, Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1987, pp. 237–45.
Herbert Kitschelt with Anthony McGann, The Radical Right in Western Europe. A Comparative Analysis, Ann Arbor: the University of Michigan Press, 1997, pp. 34–5.
Sarah Birch, ‘Nomenklatura Democratization: Electoral Clientelism and Party Formation in Post-Soviet Ukraine’, Democratization, vol. 4, no. 4, 1997, pp. 40–62.
N. Ryabov, cited by Peter Lentini, ‘Elections and Political Order in Russia: The 1993 Elections to the State Duma’, The Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics, vol. 10, no. 2, June 1994, p. 178.
J. Reschová, ‘Nová politika s novými l’ud’mi: Federálne zhromaždenie v roku 1990’, Sociologicky Časopis, vol. 28, no. 2, 1992, p. 226.
Włodzimierz Wesolowski, Partie: Nieustanne Kłopoty, Warsaw: IFIS PAN, 2000, p. 116.
Jane L. Curry and Irena Panków, ‘Social Movements and Pluralist Theory: The Conundrum of Solidarity in Poland’s Democratization’ in Dirk Berg-Schlosser and Raivo Vetik, eds, Perspectives on Democratic Consolidation in Central and Eastern Europe, Boulder: East European Monographs, 2001, p. 86.
Jiri Pehe, ‘European Union Wins Czech Elections — Barely’, East European Constitutional Review, vol. 11, no. 3, summer 2002, p. 88.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2004 Frances Millard
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Millard, F. (2004). Standing for Office: Parties and their Candidates. In: Elections, Parties and Representation in Post-Communist Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230000865_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230000865_7
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-50996-6
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-00086-5
eBook Packages: Palgrave Political & Intern. Studies CollectionPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)