Motivating Parties?!: Central and East-European Electoral Law in Comparative Perspective

What motivates and constrains the behavior of political parties? Utilizing a detailed examination of European Electoral Law, the paper seeks to answer this question. We know a fair amount about the fact that party systems differ in their size, in their structure, and in their output towards society. In many ways, knowing a country’s party system, as well as tracing its development, can offer insights to other questions including a much clearer picture of the quality of democracy. It is imperative therefore, that we understand how do party systems come about and what affects their development. One important and much understudied factor in party system development is the regulatory framework which guides party competition in national elections. Using a rational choice approach in the examination of electoral regulation, i.e. focusing on rules which affect political parties electoral calculation in some way, this study examines the first and current Electoral Laws in ten Central and East European Countries.