The article analyzes, in seven post-communist countries the results of their first two elections and the consequences for party development, democratization and governing stability. The analysis shows that during the transition period, the electoral system has only a minor effect on the electoral results as far as the emergence and stability of the new power system is concerned. Much more important is the degree to which democratization had progressed (a) in the state and in the civil society, and (b) in the relations between the state and the civil society at the time of the founding election. Post-communist countries fall into three categories: (1) late pluralizing; (2) early pluralizing; and (3) concomitantly pluralizing.
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