Issue published: 30 June 2006

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Europeanisation of the Slovenian party system Europeanisation of the Slovenian party system– from marginal European impacts to the domestification of EU policy issues?

Danica Fink-Hafner and Alenka Krašovec, p. 7-23

Abstract: While more general research findings on the impact of European integration on party system competition in post-socialist EU countries remain in conclusive, some studies have shown direct interdependence between the deepening of democratisation and its Europeanisation. Whereas in successfully democratising new EU members EU pressure to satisfy the political criteria did not create deep tensions between intergovernmental and domestic levels, this was not the case in Slovakia. Based on Slovakian experiences and taking the unfinished process of EU enlargement into account, the authors suggest: a) a theoretical model encompassing a two-level game; and b) a greater variety of research units (allowing a bigger variety of national political characteristics as well as EU-impacts) to be included in further research efforts. The model was tested on Slovenia. While in Slovenia (like most recent post-socialist EU member states) the EU’s relatively weak impact on political parties and party competition could be observed in the accession period, full EU membership has created greater space for EU-policy related cleavages on the basis of the domestic pattern of party system competition (left-right, government-opposition parties).

Keywords: political parties, party system, Europeanization, post-socialist countries, Slovenia

The limited Role of Electoral Game Rules: the Austrian Party System in “post-Rokkanian” settings

Vít Hloušek, p. 24-40

Abstract: The article deals with the potential impact of the electoral system on the party system. The general discussion, based on Duverger’s and Sartori’s electoral rules, concludes with an assessment of the Austrian case. Austrian party system development is examined with regard to the evolution of the country’s proportional representation electoral system. The author tries to findmorerelevantexplanationsforthechangeswithin the Austrian party system’s logic of functioning other than the electoral system, such as the de-alignment of voters and the changing structure of cleavages. In order to show another factor shaping the Austrian party system arrangement, the author tries to discuss not only recent development since the mid 1980s, but he also evaluates the Austrian First Republic and the period from 1945 to 1986 . The article concludes with the argument that Duverger’s and Sartori’s electoral rules could be useful in discussing party system format but they have very little to say when party system mechanics is concerned.The article deals with the potential impact of the electoral system on the party system. The general discussion, based on Duverger’s and Sartori’s electoral rules, concludes with an assessment of the Austrian case. Austrian party system development is examined with regard to the evolution of the country’s proportional representation electoral system. The author tries to findmorerelevantexplanationsforthechangeswithin the Austrian party system’s logic of functioning other than the electoral system, such as the de-alignment of voters and the changing structure of cleavages. In order to show another factor shaping the Austrian party system arrangement, the author tries to discuss not only recent development since the mid 1980s, but he also evaluates the Austrian First Republic and the period from 1945 to 1986 . The article concludes with the argument that Duverger’s and Sartori’s electoral rules could be useful in discussing party system format but they have very little to say when party system mechanics is concerned.

Key words: Austria, electoral system, party system, Duverger’s and Sartori’s electoral rules

Electoral Reforms in Poland after 1991 and Their Political Consequences

Michal Kubát, p. 41-62

Abstract: This article analyses the phenomenon of electoral engineering in contemporary Poland. The aim is to study the causes and especially the consequences of electoral reforms in relation to political parties and the party system as a whole. This analysis is supported by a number of empirical indicators, e.g. over-representation and under-representation of political parties, aggregation, fragmentation and polarization of the party system, etc. The Polish case study excellently demonstrated the theories of the direct influence of the electoral system on the party system, both in a positive and negative sense. Politicians can use electoral reform to help stabilize the party system and the political régime as a whole (Polish electoral reform of 1993), or they can use the same tool to help themselves (to ease re-entry into parliament), but at the expense of stabilization of the party system (Polish electoral reform of 2001).

Key words: election, electoral system, electoral engineering, parties and party system, Poland

The 2005 Federal Election in Germany 2005 – an AnalysisThe 2005 Federal Election in Germany 2005 – an Analysis Sketching an Integrative Model to Explain Voting Behaviour

Mario Paul, p. 63-83

Abstract: Despite the existence of various significant theories, finding one reliable way of analysing election remains difficult. The short-term impacts of election have gained more importance for voting behaviour, while socio-structural classes have become differentiated even further and party identification has become weaker. In contrast, the accuracy of statistical data from election polls and their coverage in the media suggested a high quality of prognosis. The federal election in Germany 2005 were a showcase for that. According to the author, psephology lacks a systematic combination of possible motives for voting behaviour. This hampers the interpretation of statistical data, because there is no comprehensive frame which restrains an over- or under-emphasis of single factors. In his article he outlines a research perspective that can contribute to ease this lack of systematic in psephology. His aim is to present a theoretical frame that brings together profitable results of psephology and provides new impulses for developing theories of voting behaviour. Only a combination of single approaches and thus the resulting formulation of an integrative theory – the main thesis of his article – is able to comprehend voting behaviour in its entirety and to accomplish a systematic weighting of single influence factors. A first test for this thesis and the outlined integrative model is the analysis of the German federal election of 2005.

Key words: voting behaviour, theory, German federal election 2005, agenda-setting, micro-sociological theory, cleavage theory, Ann Arbor Model, social-psychological approach, political communication, framing process, hermeneutic, rational-choice approach

Conditions and Limits of Programmatic Party Competition in Slovakia

Marek Rybář, p. 84-98

Abstract: The article aims to assess the extent of transformation of the Slovak party political scene since the 2002 general election. It does so by focusing on three interrelated questions. First, what were the origins of the ascendance of the left-right political competition after 2002? Second, have there been significant differences between party organizational changes before and after 2002 e? Third, how have the second-order election during the 2002-06 parliamentary term influenced the course of party political developments, particularly existing patterns of party interactions? It is argued that the party competition cannot be reduced to a single left-right, socio-economic dimension. Instead, three divides are identified: a socio-economic left-right divide, a cultural-conservative versus liberal division, and an ethnic Slovak-Hungarian cleavage. These divisions are significant across the population and have successfully been exploited by deliberate strategies of political parties.

Key words: Slovakia, left-right competition, the 2002 parliamentary election, party competition, second-order election

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Lenka Strnadová: The Philosophy of Habermas

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Klara Weger: Designing Federalism