Explaining Change in Communist Successor Parties: Political Environment versus Party Organization?

Authors

  • John Ishiyama

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15763/issn.2374-7781.2002.23.0.319-336

Abstract

The collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and the transformation of the formerly dominant communist parties has provided an opportunity to test some of the major propositions regarding party change. This article focuses on the relationship between external and internal factors, and evolution of the communist successor parties in seventy-nine countries across the world. The most important factor explaining the electoral success of the communist successor parties is the degree of organization, a finding that provides broader support for the literature arguing that communist successor party electoral performance is primarily a result of the organizational features these parties inherited from the past.

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Published

2003-01-01

Issue

Vol. 23: Winter 2002

Section

Articles

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