Anna Grzymala-Busse, abusse@umich.edu
The post-communist democracies of East Central Europe saw a paradox: some of the discredited authoritarian ruling parties reinvented themselves to now become successful moderate democrats, celebrated for their managerial expertise, democratic commitments, and political savvy. Yet fate has not been kind to these parties: the successor parties that reinvented themselves eventually became victims of their own success. They succumbed to the same internal pressures and anti-incumbent voting that swept from power other democratic parties in the region. Several simply disappeared. In contrast, successor parties that obstinately did not transform into moderate democrats after the communist collapse—either staying in power without internal change or becoming protest parties with few ostensible democratic commitments—have shown remarkable staying power, surviving and retaining voters at far higher rates than their “moderate democratic” counterparts.
