Continuity and Change: Adaptation Strategies of Agrarian Parties in Scandinavia and Central Eastern Europe Compared E-Book

Maximilian Spinner

• Herausgeber: GRIN Verlag
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2003

Beschreibung

Seminar paper from the year 2003 in the subject Politics - Region: Eastern Europe, grade: A-, Central European University Budapest (Department of Political Science), language: English, abstract: This text compares adaptation strategies of traditional Agrarian Parties in Scandinavia with modern or revived Agrarian Parties in contemporary Poland and Hungary.

Leseprobe

Table of Content

1. INTRODUCTION.

2. THE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

3. THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OFAGRARIAN PARTIES

4. THE ADAPTATION STRATEGIES OF THE SCANDINAVIAN AGRARIAN/CENTER PARTIES

6. CONCLUSION

7. BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Department of Political Science

Abstract:

The persistence and the relatively strong electoral performance of peasant parties in some Central Eastern European countries appears puzzling. The paper investigates the strategies of these parties in the light of social and economic modernization. As a successful model for agrarian adaptation the Scandinavian Center parties’ move to ‘catch-all’ strategies are contrasted with the Hungarian FKGP and the Polish PSL. It becomes clear that the incentive structure for these parties in CEE transition societies is much different and therefore less conducive to this kind of adaptation. In fact, rather a rightist-populist retreat and in the Polish case the reliance on a continuously strong peasant vote in addition to seeking state resources is being pursued.

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1. Introduction

The party systems of Scandinavia and Central Eastern Europe (CEE) share an interesting pattern - the existence of significant agrarian parties. These parties played a decisive role in shaping the political landscape of the early and mid-20thcentury in the two regions. Nowadays they are still present in Scandinavia and re-emerged after the collapse of Communism in CEE. This paper is going to compare the strategies that secured the survival and the successful reorientation of peasant parties in Scandinavia and their re-emergence and re-establishment in CEE. A contrasting perspective is intended to shed light on the way environmental change influences incentive structures for strategic adaptation and how specific organizational features interact with these strategies.