Preliminary communication
Parliaments in Transition: The Initial Decade of Post-Communist and Post-Soviet Parliaments
David M. Olson
; Department of Political Science, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, United States
Abstract
In this article the author discusses the transition-related experience of parliaments in six countries of Central and Eastern Europe: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Russia and Slovenia. The experience of the six post-authoritarian parliaments suggests four types of parliaments within the initial decade, of which three were viable at the end of the decade. Two democratic types of parliament varied mainly with regard to the concentration of their party systems: the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovenia are multi-party, while Hungary tends toward a two-party majoritarian system. The post-Soviet parliaments, the third type, have become presidentially dependent. The fourth type of parliament, occurring early in the decade, featured a contest for power, both constitutional and electoral, between parliament and president. These confl icts have been resolved, though very diff erently, in Moldova, Russia, and Poland. This analysis highlights the importance of both constitutional and electoral systems, which may be considered in established political systems as part of the stable external context of parliaments, whereas in new post-authoritarian systems they are very much in fl ux. The defi nition of what might become stable in the future has largely been part of the on-going confl icts within the initial decade. The experience of post-authoritarian parliaments also highlights the importance of the internal structure and dynamics within parliaments. Attempts to defi ne the rules of procedure both express and symbolize the capacity of a parliament to equip itself for functioning as an independent body. There is a dynamic interaction eff ect between external events and the internal structure, which has continued throughout the initial decade.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
38295
URI
Publication date:
1.6.2006.
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