Bien que la littérature française n’ait presque pas abordé le sujet, les théories des coalitions ont constitué, dans la littérature dite “mainstream”, un des principaux champs d’étude en science politique, ces deux dernières décennies. Appliquées à l’analyse de gouvernements, ces études ont permis de développer un ensemble de connaissances théoriques et des outils d’analyse quant à l’étude des processus liés à la formation, le maintien et la conclusion de ce type de gouvernements. Toutefois, le fait que la plupart des politistes ayant contribués à l’expansion de ces théories proviennent d’Europe Occidentale, ces études se sont alors -pour leur majeure partie- concentrées à l’analyse des coalitions gouvernementales suivant les particularismes de leur région d’origine : les systèmes parlementaires d’Europe Occidentale. L’étude du phénomène en régime présidentiel, longtemps considéré comme accidentel du fait de la supposée « combinaison indésirable » entre présidentialisme et multipartisme, est de ce fait demeurée limitée. Ceci conduit à ce que, jusqu’à présent, la littérature en science politique ne dispose que d’un faible niveau de connaissance quant à la manifestation des coalitions gouvernementales sous la configuration présidentielle. Cette thèse se propose donc de combler cette lacune ontologique, en centrant l’analyse sur les particularités structurelles des systèmes présidentiels, tout en faisant le lien avec les théories les plus récentes issues de la littérature portant sur les systèmes parlementaires. En se basant sur les trois pays du Cône Sud, et l’analyse de huit gouvernements récents de coalition qui ont connus différentes fortunes, cette thèse viendra insister sur l’impact de la configuration présidentielle quant à la formation et la gestion des gouvernements de coalition. Cette « présidentialisation » de la théorie des coalitions, va ainsi mettre en avant deux éléments généraux propres à la matérialisation du phénomène coalitionnaire en régime présidentiel : la récurrence de la formation de coalitions électorales, et la tendance à la bipolarité de la compétition politique. / Coalition theories applied to governments developed during the last decades a huge literature so as to provide theoretical knowledge and tools for the analysis of formation, maintain and breakdown of this kind of governments. Nevertheless, these studies were focused especially on parliamentary systems and left away the study of this phenomenon on presidential regimes. On another hand, coalition governments used to be considered, otherwise, in these systems as an “undesirable combination”, or analysed as a functional trend rather than the proper object of investigation. This approach conducts, then to a very low level of knowledge of the coalition phenomenon under presidential configuration.This thesis, proposes thus to fill this analytical gap, aiming to apply and compare recent findings and approaches from parliamentary origins to presidential systems. Through the study of the three countries forming the American Southern Cone, and eight recent governments of coalition with different successes we will stress out the differentiated role and mechanisms of timing cleavages and party structuration, proper to presidential systems. We will therefore “presidentialise” the theory, and show that the presidential framework presents general peculiarities like a recurrent pre-electoral coalition formation, and a trend to the bipolarity of party competition. / Las teorías de las coaliciones (coalition theories) formaron en la literatura dominante en ciencias políticas, uno de los principales campos de estudio, en las últimas décadas. Aplicadas al análisis de los gobiernos, estos trabajos permitieron que se desarrollara un conjunto de conocimientos teóricos y herramientas de análisis pertinentes para el estudio de los procesos de formación, mantenimiento y conclusión de este tipo de gobierno.Ahora bien, el hecho que la mayor parte de los académicos que escribieron sobre este fenómeno proviniera de -o enfocara su análisis sobre- Europa Occidental, condujo a que dichos conocimientos y herramientas desarrolladas por la teoría de las coaliciones se desarrollasen incluyendo particularidades propias a las democracias parlamentarias de Europa Occidental. Paralelamente a esto, el auge de las coalition theories se produjo de manera concomitante con la emergencia del debate presidencialismo vs. Parlamentarismo, cuyos teóricos dominantes en un primer momento abogaron por el carácter “accidental” o “indeseable” del ocaso de coaliciones partidarias en sistema presidencial. Por ende, muy pocos trabajos teóricos han sido llevados a cabo, hasta la fecha, para analizar el proceso coalicionar en regímenes presidenciales; y las pocas tentativas que se hicieron, recuperaron los elementos de análisis propios a las teorías ya existentes sin “presidencializar” el enfoque. Aquello condujo a que el nivel de conocimiento y entendimiento de los gobiernos de coalición en sistemas presidenciales sean bastante mal conocidos, pese a que muchos estudios hayan demostrado el carácter rutinario del fenómeno.Esta tesis se propone colmar este vacío ontológico, concentrándose en el análisis de las particularidades estructurales de los sistemas presidenciales relacionándose, de manera constante, con la teoría en sistemas parlamentarios. Al considerar los tres países del Cono Sur, y el análisis de ocho gobiernos que presentaron una configuración coaligada con fortunas diversas, esta tesis vendrá insistiendo sobre el impacto del presidencialismo sobre la formación y la gestión de estos gobiernos. Este enfoque presidencializado de las teorías de las coaliciones insiste asimismo sobre dos elementos generales propios al fenómeno coalicionar en régimen presidencial: la tendencia a la bipolarización de la competencia política y el carácter más precoz del juego de alianzas.

In many countries there are several political parties in power. In some of them, however, one party is in a position of hegemony. Other political parties are prevented to exercise their real power and often act only as a parties creating an illusion of democracy in a state where it does not exist. The present thesis deals with the hegemonic party systems in terms of their origin and subsequent transition. The thesis is based on the hypothesis that changing the rules of the hegemonic party will lead it to lose its status and power. As a case study of the hegemonic party regimes serves political system in Mexico, Mozambique and Cambodia. The first chapter defines the notion of a political party, party systems theory and transition mode. The second chapter deals with the hegemonic party systems. The third chapter deals with the case of Mexico and its system of hegemonic party. Findings refute the validity of the above hypothesis, since in many countries, even after the successful completion of the transition, earlier hegemonic parties maintain their power and their electoral support is high.

In the last few years new parties were rising in the post-communist bloc rapidly. Moreover, many of them were successful in the parliamentary elections. Party systems were slowly stabilizing and now they are threatened by new influences. Success of new parties is changing current politics in the central and eastern Europe. These parties are connected not only by the date of foundation but also by the way they act against current establishment. Despite their different strategies, level of success and their creation, their quick unexpected success is interesting. What is the structure of the electorate? This work is focused on identifying the structure of electorate of the new parties in central and eastern Europe. It is divided into two parts. First one, summarizes the theoretical concepts concerning the study of the new parties and clearly identifies what kind of new parties will be considered in this work. For this designation are used theories by Paul Lucardie, Allan Sikk a Krystyna Litton. Second part is quantitative research, based on advanced statistical methods. The research is trying to accurately identify what kind of social groups in the population are most likely to vote for the new parties. In this research is used OLS regression analysis on the global (state) level and for more accurate...

Research on political parties and their organizational stability presents one of the most important research agendas in modern comparative politics. Especially among newly democratized countries of the Central and Eastern Europe, the consolidation of democratic political institutions used to be considered as a key factor for the successful finishing of the whole transitional process. Despite the fact that most of the transitologists optimistically perceived the consolidation of the new democracies as a one-way process, the most of party systems in the eastern countries experienced serious changes and periods of instability within the last ten years. The most notable change was definitely the unexpected electoral success of genuinely new political parties and movements usually led by a political entrepreneur and formed without solid organizational background or solid ties to society. This tendency further turned into a new wave of unpredictability even within the party systems commonly perceived as fully stabilized and consolidated. Based on such new conditions, the contemporary party researchers turn their attention towards possible interpretations of this unprecedented phenomenon. This dissertation contributes to this discussion by the attempt to operationalize and explain the level of...

Thesis title: Contemporary populism in Europe This thesis maps the development of populism across Europe and investigates its manifestations and core elements in its complexity, which is the groundwork for analysis of populist party, movement or individual. Populism is not considered solely as the relieving strategy meant to maximize the voter's votes by comprehensible, straightforward and hardly feasible promises. Without this attitude in mind, we would hardly be able to put some reason behind the populist boom, which we had chance to witness during the last decade. Therefore this thesis considers populism as the ideological construct, the way politicians present themselves, the rhetorics, the mastered political style or the structure, which provides the foundations of programme documents of political movements and parties. It would be a mistake to a priori consider it as some kind of purely negative phenomenon, but more of as the reflection of various and continuously changing demands of European electorates. Desperation, which mainstream parties evoke in their voters, is toxic and continues to spread across all society classes. This creates a space for various populists to dominate. Thus while tracking their activities, specific kind of critical thinking is necessary, because populists...

Les partis politiques macédoniens ont été relativement peu étudiés. Les problèmes de la construction du nouvel Etat, à la fois dans un environnement difficile et quant à l’intégration de l’importante minorité albanaise, ont éclipsé ceux du nouveau système politique. L’attention portée à l’ingénierie constitutionnelle y a contribué. Pourtant, les partis sont au cœur de la démocratie pluraliste.En dehors de la problématique commune de la formation des partis politiques dans les transitions post-communistes, le cas macédonien présente des originalités par le rôle des racines historiques pour les partis relevants et l’importance des partis ethniques, qui ont évolué entre la contestation de l’Etat et du nouveau système et l’intégration politique par la participation grandissante au jeu démocratique, y compris au niveau gouvernemental. / Macedonian political parties have been relatively little studied. In Macedonia, political system transformation has been mainly dominated by state building issues, problems related to Albanian minority integration and the process of designing a new constitutional arrangement. Nevertheless, political parties are considered to be key actors in pluralist democracy. Macedonian parties have their own particularities when compared to general models of post-communist party development. The originality of the Macedonian parties thus lies in the importance accorded to historical legacies in party formation, as well as in the role played by ethnic actors in the process of democratization.

Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Untersuchung des institutionellen Wandels in Polen, Tschechien und Ungarn während ihres Beitrittsprozesses zur Europäischen Union. Dabei liegt das Hauptaugenmerk auf den dabei entstandenen Wechselwirkungen zwischen Parteipolitik und den Beitrittsbemühungen. Die Entwicklungen in Mittelosteuropa nach dem Ende der Blockkonfrontation zwang die neuen Demokratien in der Region in einen Zustand des demokratischen und ökonomischen Wettbewerbs um den Zutritt zu westeuropäischen Strukturen, die Wohlstand und Sicherheit versprachen. Die Mitgliedschaft in der EU wurde von ihnen als oberstes Ziel, wenn nicht sogar als Belohnung, ihrer gesellschaftlichen Transformation verstanden. Die Konsolidierung der Demokratie war - im Gegensatz zur vorherigen Demokratisierung - in diesem Zusammenhang keine explizite Anforderung, sondern eine positive Prognose, die spätestens mit der EU-Mitgliedschaft der Realität entsprechen sollte. Das Kernstück dieser Arbeit ist die komparative Dreiländerstudie, in der die innenpolitischen Ereignisse, die Motive der Akteure, die Funktionalität der jeweiligen politischen Systeme und deren Entwicklung nach der Errichtung der Demokratie verglichen werden. Außerdem werden die Strukturen untersucht, die von den Kandidatenländern erschaffen worden sind, um den Beitritt zu organisieren. Die abschließende Bewertung erfolgt hinsichtlich der Gründe, die für etwaige institutionelle Veränderungen verantwortlich waren sind und arbeitet die europapolitischen Determinanten für das Akteursverhalten heraus. Die Verknüpfung von externer Einflußnahme mit institutionellem Wandel im Inneren führt zu folgenden politikwissenschaftlich relevanten Fragen: In wie weit hat der Beitrittsprozeß einen Einfluß auf die Konsolidierung der Demokratie in den Kandidatenländern gehabt? Hatte der Beitrittsprozeß kurz- oder langfristige Veränderungen in den politischen Systemen dieser Länder zur Folge? Haben die nationalen Akteure versucht, den Beitrittsprozeß für ihre eigenen politischen Ziele zu instrumentalisieren? Die Beantwortung dieser Fragen wird helfen, die innenpolitischen Konsequenzen zukünftiger Erweiterungsrunden besser einzuschätzen, einschließlich den dabei zu erwartenden politischen Wechselwirkungen auf der nationalen Ebene der neuen Mitgliedsstaaten. / The present work deals with the research of institutional change in Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary during the accession process to the European Union. The main emphasis rests on the interaction between domestic party politics and accession efforts that took place during this period. The developments in Central Eastern Europe after the end of the East-West conflict forced the new democracies of the region into a state of economic competition for entry to West European structures that promised wealth and security. The membership in the EU was perceived as the main foreign policy objective if not as the reward for their societal transformation. The consolidation of democracy - in contrast to the previous democratization that took place - wasn''t a specific requirement in this context. Instead it was a positive prediction which was believed to come true with the EU-membership at the latest. The central element of this work is a comparative three country study, analyzing the domestic political events, the motives of the actors, the functionality of the given political systems and their development after the initial establishment of institutional democracy. Furthermore it includes an examination of the structures that have been created by the candidate countries for organizing their accession to the EU. The final evaluation is done in regard to the reasons responsible for domestic institutional changes and means an attempt to work out the Europe centered determinants of the domestic actors'' behaviours. The linking of external influence to domestic institutional change leads to the following questions relevant to political science: To what extent the accession process had an impact on the consolidation of democracy in the candidate countries? Has the accession process caused any short or long term changes in the political systems of these countries? Have the domestic actors tried to utilize the accession process for their own political interests? The answers to these questions will help evaluating the domestic consequences of future enlargement rounds, including the correlations on the national level of the new member states.

Research of process of forming of party system of Russia at the present stage acquires special relevance that is caused by changes of a political regime. Change of nature of a political regime, sharpening of personalistic, unicentric lines has caused search of a new format of party system which would minimize possibility of instability of a political regime and became the effective mechanism of maintenance of the status quo. Main goal of dissertation research is studying of forming of a tendency to a monotsentrichnost in development of party system of the modern Russian Federation. Hypotheses which have proved to be true have been formulated: forming of unicentric party system when using strategy of a party creation of the power and its positioning in political space I became reaction of political elite of Russia to a situation of democratic transit and manifestation of its pragmatical interests.

This diploma thesis deals with a development of the socioeconomic cleavage in the party systems of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland in 2006 - 2012. At the beginning the theory of cleavages by S. Rokkan and S. M. Lipset and the enlargement to post-communist countries of Klaus von Beyme, are presented. There are also mentioned concepts of other authors. The thesis tries to answer a few questions. Firstly, what form did this line have in the monitored period (transformation line vs. classical socioeconomic line). Secondly, how big was an impact on the political right-left orientation of the political parties, and thirdly, how significant was this line for the party-political system of selected countries in this period. There is also a brief development of the party system after 1989 as well as the ideological profiles of parliamentary parties given in each chapter focused on particular country. One part of it deals also with the economic and social climate in the monitored period. Then the work is based mainly on the analysis of party's agenda, with an emphasis on the socioeconomic line.

Bc. Karel Höfer Komparativní volební inženýrství v postjugoslávském prostoru KP IPS FSV UK Diplomová práce ABSTRACT The thesis deals with the topic of electoral engineering and electoral design in the Post- Yugoslav area. It can be classified within social sciences as a part of political science, specifically as a part of comparative political science and electoral studies. The subject of this thesis is electoral design and electoral engineering. Its cases are political and electoral systems in the Post-Yugoslav area up to 2012. The importance of this topic consists in the fact that it is not entirely explored topic. On that account it deserves attention from both empirical and theoretical perspective. The research of electoral design and electoral engineering is one of the most promising courses of contemporary political science. The Post-Yugoslav area offers an ideal environment for comparative political science in general and comparative approach due to its common historical and institutional grounds, but different political and institutional development after the disintegration. The primary objective of this work is the comparison of electoral design and electoral engineering in the Post-Yugoslav area. An important component of this work is also original and comprehensive theoretical framework for a...