Polish Party System 1989-2016: A Case of Polarization Abstract The dissertation thesis analyses the Polish party system focusing particularly on the issues of polarization and anti-communism. The analysis is partially carried out in comparative perspective, especially in exploring anti-communism. Throughout the post-transition period, Poland has been displaying high levels of polarization, without any substantial link to the fragmentation of the party system. Seeking the sources of the polarizing tensions, the thesis has identified the construction of language of politics, as well as historicising and identity- based understanding of political divisions in Poland. The thesis specially focuses on the issue of anti-communism, as a key factor in creating and launching various polarizing impulses. The periodization of the Polish party system developments, as well as its categorization as a case of Satori's polarized pluralism is also proposed in the text. Key words: party system, Poland, polarization, anti-communism, fragmentation, alternation, competition, cleavages, dimensions of competition

To understand the dynamics of legislative gridlock, as well as account for the mixed and often conflicting findings in the divided government literature, this paper posits that the previous unidimensional approach of using divided government as an explanatory variable of interest fails to accurately reflect the changing realities of American politics since WWII. Two new and interlocking conceptual approaches are introduced that expand the dimensionality of legislative gridlock: ideological polarization explained through the temporal shift of political parties from a party system of moderation and universalistic policy outputs, to one where particularistic goals became much more common. As studies of divided government center on temporally-bound concepts, they ignore most of the inter- and intra-party variation evident throughout the latter 20th century. / text

This thesis is focused on the nationalization of party systems in Western Europe and combines four different approaches. Despite the literature claiming that political decentralization reduces party system nationalization, the first paper shows that this effect depends on the level of personalism that the electoral system allows. The second article shows a new effect of the nationalization of party systems. This variable is shown to be a crucial element to explain turnout differences across districts within a country. The third article of this thesis is centered on the impact of the electoral system on party system nationalization through a crucial-experimental approach based on electoral reforms in Western Europe. Finally, the last part of the thesis focuses on describing and analyzing the nationalization of political parties in Spain, paying particular attention to differences among national and subnational parties. / Esta tesis doctoral está centrada en la nacionalización de los sistemas de partidos en Europa Occidental desde cuatro perspectivas diferentes. Una hipótesis clásica de la literatura es que la descentralización política reduce la nacionalización. En el primer artículo se muestra que el efecto de esta variable depende de que haya un grado suficiente de personalismo en el sistema electoral. En el segundo artículo se demuestra un nuevo efecto de la nacionalización de los sistemas de partidos; esta variable determina las diferencias en la participación electoral entre distritos dentro de un mismo país. El tercer artículo se aproxima al fenómeno mediante experimentos cruciales centrados en las reformas del sistema electoral en Europa Occidental a fin de estimar su efecto sobre la nacionalización. Finalmente, el último artículo analiza la nacionalización de los partidos en España y sus principales determinantes, distinguiendo particularmente entre partidos de ámbito nacional y subnacional.

This thesis examines why party systems of some developing countries become deeper and more quickly stabilised than others. Drawing on the scholarship of party system institutionalisation in third wave democracies, the thesis argues that the field can be strengthened by looking to three factors that the current literature has taken for granted: the role of cleavages, the function of personalistic politics, and the requirement of legitimacy to assess party systems. This thesis addresses these issues and in so doing provides a novel view of how, when and why party systems in newer democracies from Latin America, Europe and Asia consolidate over time. The research considers three case studies from three regions of the world, following the most similar approach method of comparison. One country per world region has been chosen for study in detail: Chile (Latin America), Estonia (Central and Eastern Europe) and South Korea (East and Southeast Asia). They all have party systems which have become more stable over time, but they exhibit different trajectories and speeds of consolidation. The thesis uses a variety of methods. In order to infer the causes of different processes of institutionalisation from party systems’ own participants, more than 120 elite interviews were conducted in the three countries over 13 months. To evaluate the overall legitimacy of the stabilisation process, this works presents the results of almost 500 face-to-face interviews with randomly selected individuals from the population. Quantitative analyses based on secondary public opinion surveys are used to test implications and observations, and offer potential generalisations. The findings suggests: 1) Where the ideological cleavage (left-right) is a strong determinant of party support the party system is more stable, and the stronger the ideological cleavage becomes over time, the more consolidated the party system is. Here, an ideological trauma can be at the core of the limitations of the left-right scope development. 2) Party systems with personalistic leaders can consolidate, contrary to the received wisdom, if charismatic figures build their parties around programmatic lines. And 3) legitimacy should not be regarded as a dimension for the Theory of Party System Institutionalisation, because it does not contribute in any way, positive or negative, to the stability of party systems. The thesis concludes that theories of party system institutionalisation should be reconsidered with respect to cleavages, personalism and legitimacy. In so doing, the growing literature on party system institutionalisation can benefit from a more comprehensive understanding of the complexities of party systems in new democracies from different regions of the world.

The thesis keens on the analysis and development of the party systems in the cities and towns of the Benešov district. The thesis primarily concerns on existence of political parties on the local level, creation of electoral lists and analysis of the electoral list structure. The thesis also concerns on relations between candidates subjects, interactions between them and formation of coalitions.

The master thesis The party systems of the Visegrad group in crisis? analyzes the conditon of party systems in Central Europe, with emphasis on recent electoral and political developments. It focuses on the study of various phenomena that slow down or even prevent the consolidation and crystallization of competitive party systems. Emphasis is placed on research using qualitative as well as quantitative methods, especially the comparative method and application of the theoretical concept of business firm party. The aim is not only to map and identify problematic processes and phenomena that party systems show, but also on the structural classification of a famous G. Sartori and J. Blondel theoretical concepts.

The idea of sovereignty of the people offers a concept which allows searching for legitimacy of power. The legitimacy of power is one of the key structures establishing a relation between those who govern and those who are governed. Whether this relation is accepted, acceptable, functional, desirable or undesirable is a matter of finding the very definition of sovereignty of the people as such. The aim of this doctoral thesis, titled The Concept of Sovereignty of the People and the Political Party System in the First Czechoslovak Republic (1918 - 1938) and in the Czech Republic since 1993, is, firstly, to define the concepts of the people, on one hand, and sovereignty, on the other hand, in the historical, political and legal context from the ancient times up to now while reflecting the role of political parties in relation to the sovereignty of the people. Secondly, this thesis aims at exploring and describing the functioning of the party systems in the interwar Czechoslovakia and in the Czech Republic after 1993. Thirdly, this thesis seeks to answer the following questions: who represents the people in liberal democracies which are based on sovereignty of the people; how do the people exercise their power; and what is the role of the political parties in this process.

Governments are responsible for administrative arrangements dealing with disasters. Effective policies play a vital role in mitigating the impact of disasters and reducing likely losses of life and property. Yet, it had been noted that such losses were increasing, raising questions about efficacy of government policies and the factors that made them effective. This study adopted a comparative method, responding to a long-standing demand of disaster research, for examining the record in India. There were noticeable differences among its states, with some having undertaken comprehensive reform in an all-hazards approach, while others continued with old policies. This research studied four states with the objective of identifying variables that were critical in undertaking policy reform for building capacities. The roles of economic resources, democratically decentralized institutions, political party systems and focusing events were examined. Findings revealed that these factors had varying impact on state capabilities. Economic resources were an inevitable part of disaster management, but did not necessarily translate into policy reform. Panchayati Raj Institutions, which were democratically decentralized bodies, displayed tremendous potential. However, their role was limited mostly to the response phase, with states severely circumscribing their involvement. The nature of political party systems was able to explain policy reform to an extent. Cohesive systems in Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Orissa correlated with administrative capacities, unlike in fragmented Bihar. However, anti-incumbency sentiments and strong community mobilization impacted contestation more than electoral salience of public goods. The most nuanced and significant explanation was provided by experience of focusing events. States that suffered major disasters revealed unmistakable evidence of double-loop learning, leading to comprehensive policy reform and capacity building. This research provides empirical support to theory about the role of focusing events and organizational learning in policy reform. Methodologically, it underscores the importance of the comparative approach, and its successful application in a federal framework. The significance of this research is most for policy makers and practitioners, as it serves to alert them on the need for reform without waiting for the next big disaster to catch them unprepared.

Notre doctorat se propose d'étudier les bases de construction du système partisan dans les pays post-communistes et les facteurs externes ou internes de son évolution. Les transformations après 1989 étaient supposées suivre une logique séquentielle comprenant quelques étapes incontournables - l'organisation des élections libres, l'adoption de nouvelles Constitutions, la réforme du corpus juridique et des administrations, l'harmonisation européenne, etc. Les attentes étaient que l'intégration européenne soit la force motrice pour une stabilisation graduelle des institutions et des normes juridiques et qu'elle contribue, à terme, à une progressive convergence des façons de faire est-européennes par rapport aux règles et pratiques en vigueur au sein de l'Union européenne. La présente recherche de thèse a pour objectif d'aborder la construction des systèmes de partis politiques dans les pays de l'Europe centrale et orientale dans un triple logique: celle des caractéristiques structurelles des arènes politiques, des jeux stratégiques des acteurs politiques et du rôle de la variable européenne. Or, malgré l'avancement de l'intégration dans l'Union européenne, l'atmosphère d'une crise permanente se développe au sein des PECO, ainsi que des cycles de désillusion qui accroissent les chances pour les partis non traditionnels et populistes de trouver leur place sur les scènes politiques nationales. Notre recherche est menée de façon comparative et son champ couvre trois pays: la Bulgarie, la Roumanie et la Slovaquie. / Our research work proposes to study the basis of the construction of the political party systems in post-communist countries and the internal and external factors affecting their evolution. The post 1989 changes were supposed to follow a sequential logic comprising certain inevitable steps - organization of free elections; the adoption of new constitutions, judiciary and administration reform, European harmonization etc, The expectation being that European integration would act as the driving force towards a gradual stabilization of the institutions and of the legal standards and that it would contribute, ultimately, to a progressive convergence of East European practices with those already in place within the European Union. The objective of this research thesis is to tackle the construction of the political party system in Central and Eastern Europe in the triple logic of: the structural characteristics of the political arena, the strategy of the main political actors and the role that the European variable played. Despite the progresses of the integration within the European Union, the atmosphere of permanent crisis and the "cycles of disillusionment" within the CEEC increase the chance that non-traditional and populist parties find a place within the national political scenes. Our research is conducted in a comparative way and its scope covers three countries: Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia.

Political science literature has focused itself mostly on the «pro-democracy» role of political parties, identifying them as essential instruments for representation. We agree, but we believe this is not the only aspect to focus on. Democratic parties do not only achieve power through regular elections, but they also aspire to rule within a democratic regime. In that sense, the functioning of political parties can be analyzed not only in terms of their contribution to electoral competition. In order to fulfill their democratic functions, parties need a strong constitutional order that allows them to provide two goods: the achievement of power through legalways and good governance within the Rule of Law. / Por lo general, la literatura sobre los partidos políticos en ciencia política se ha centrado en su rol «pro-democrático», identificándolos como instrumentos esenciales para la representación. Estamos de acuerdo, pero insistimos en matizar el tema dado lo siguiente: Los partidos democráticos no solo conquistan el poder mediante elecciones regulares, sino que también aspiran a gobernar dentro de un régimen democrático. Por tanto, el funcionamiento de los partidos polí- ticos puede ser analizado no solamente en términos de su aporte a la competencia electoral. Para cumplir sus funciones democráticas, los partidos necesitan un orden constitucional fuerte que les permita proveer dos bienes: la conquista legal del poder y el buen gobierno dentro del Estado de derecho. En el presente documento proponemos esta agenda de investigación y revisamos sus componentes a la luz del caso peruano post-Fujimori y las organizaciones políticas dentro de la dinámica de gobierno.