Party Families Cnceptions and its Problematic Aplications on the Central European Models  - Example of Slovenian Party Sytem Cover Image

Koncepce stranických rodin a její problematická aplikace na středoevropské modely - příklad stranického systému Republiky Slovinsko
Party Families Cnceptions and its Problematic Aplications on the Central European Models - Example of Slovenian Party Sytem

Author(s): Ladislav Cabada
Subject(s): Politics / Political Sciences
Published by: Masarykova univerzita nakladatelství
Keywords: ethnocentrism in political science; party families; Eastern Europe; Republic of Slovenia;

Summary/Abstract: Political science in Central and Eastern Europe was established only after the fall of communist regimes at the end of the 1980s. Therefore, it was primarily based on theories and conceptions coming from Western Europe and Northern America. In the research of political parties and party systems in post-communist Europe firstly the descriptive method was used, later – since the half of the 1990s – theoretical conceptions, in the first place the concept of cleavages and party families, were employed. However, as the forms of political parties in Western Europe differ from those in Eastern Europe, the application of these conceptions in the context of Central and Eastern Europe could be quite difficult. Western political scientists have been trying to use their concepts in culturally different arenas. Accordingly, this could result in ethnocentric approaches to Central and Eastern European political parties and party systems. The conception of party families could be singled out as an example of a futile application of Western political theories in postcommunist Europe. In the article problems related to the application of the party families theory are demonstrated on the basis of Republic Slovenia.

  • Issue Year: X/2003
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 262-269
  • Page Count: 8
  • Language: Czech