The Place of `Party' in Post-Communist Europe

Abstract

Using data from a survey of almost 6000 voters in five post-communist countries (Russia, Ukraine, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic) designed by the authors and carried out in November and December 1993, the authors review evidence about citizens' formal commitment to parties compared with other forms of civic activity; about depth of trust in political parties; the effectiveness of action through political parties; desirable forms of party competition; and the depth of party identification in post-communist Europe. They conclude that while the degree of hostility to political parties remains significant, and identification remains low in comparative perspective, in none of the countries is there a desire among mass publics to see an end to party competition, and the place of party is in any event secured by elite consensus.