Coalition Governance in Central Eastern Europe

Torbjörn Bergman is Professor of Political Science at Umeå University, Sweden. His books on representative democracy, government formation, and political parties include Political Parties in Multi-Level Polities: The Nordic Countries Compared (with N. Aylott and M. Blomgren, Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), The Madisonian Turn - Political Parties and Parliamentary Democracy in Nordic Europe (with K. Strøm, University of Michigan Press, 2011), Cabinets and Coalition Bargaining: The Democratic Life Cycle in Western Europe (with K. Strøm and W.C. Müller, Oxford University Press, 2008) and Delegation and Accountability in Parliamentary Democracies (with K. Strøm and W.C. Müller, Oxford University Press, 2003). He has also published in journals such as the European Journal of Political Research, the Journal of European Public Policy, the Journal of Legislative Studies, Party Politics, Government & Opposition, and Scandinavian Political Studies. Gabriella Ilonszki is Professor of Political Science at Corvinus University of Budapest. Her English language publications include three edited volumes: Opposition Parties in European Legislatures: Conflict or Consensus (with Elisabetta De Giorgi, Routledge, 2018), Post-Communist Parliaments: Change and Stability in the Second Decade (with D.M. Olson, Routledge, 2012), and Perceptions of the European Union in New Member States: A Comparative Perspective (Routledge, 2010). She has published articles in journals such as the Journal of Legislative Studies, East European Politics, Europe-Asia Studies, the Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics. She has also authored several chapters in volumes on representation, parliamentary government and political elite, gender, areas that constitute her main research interest. Wolfgang C. Müller is Professor of Democratic Governance at the Department of Government, University of Vienna, Austria. His research interests are government coalitions, political institutions, political parties, political elites, and political economy. He is Director of the Austrian National Election Study (AUTNES), Director of the Vienna Institute for Electoral Research (VieCER), and co-editor of West European Politics. His English-language books include Policy, Office, or Votes? How Political Parties in Western Europe Make Hard Decisions (with K. Strøm, Cambridge University Press, 1999), Coalition Governments in Western Europe (with K. Strøm, Oxford University Press, 2000), Delegation and Accountability in Parliamentary Democracies (with K. Strøm, and T. Bergman, Oxford University).

List of Figures
List of Tables
List of Contributors
1: Wolfgang C. Müller, Torbjörn Bergman, and Gabriella Ilonszki: Extending the Coalition Life-cycle Approach to Central Eastern Europe - An Introduction
2: Anders Backlund, Alejandro Ecker, and Thomas M. Meyer: The Economic and Political Context of Coalition Politics in Central Eastern Europe
3: Rumyana Kolarova and Maria Spirova: Bulgaria: Stable Coalitions of Unstable Parties
4: Zdenka Mansfeldova and Tomas Lacina: Czech Republic: Declining Bipolarity and New Patterns of Conflict
5: Vello Pettai: Estonia: From Instability to the Consolidation of Centre-Right Coalition Politics
6: Gabriella Ilonszki: Hungary: From Coalitions to One-Party Dominance
7: Janis Ikstens and Ilze Balcere: Latvia: Office-seeking in an Ethnically Divided Polity
8: Irmina Matonyte: Lithuania: Ministerial Government in an Unstable Party System
9: Andrzej Antoszewski and Joanna Kozierska: Poland: Weak Coalitions and Small Party Suicide in Government
10: Laurentiu Stefan: Romania: Presidential Politics and Coalition Bargaining
11: Sona Szomolanyi and Alexander Karvai: Slovakia: From National-Populist to Alternating Right and Left Coalitions
12: Alenka Krasovec and Tomaz Krpic: Slovenia: Majority Coalitions and the Strategy of Dropping out of Cabinet
13: Torbjörn Bergman, Gabriella Ilonszki, and Wolfgang C. Müller: The Coalition Life-cycle in Central Eastern Europe
Appendix: The Variables
Index