Nowe partie w państwach Europy Środkowo-Wschodniej - w poszukiwaniu czynników sukcesu wyborczego

Abstract

Presented article discusses the electoral fates of genuinely new parties in four CEE countries: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. The author mainly focuses on their political projects, especially political platforms. Conducted analysis reveals that politization of new issues neglected by established parties was the main factor which determines the party systems’ opening for new political initiatives. Other important factors were also “the leader effect” and advantageous configuration of political and socioeconomic conditions. In last elections we can notice substantial change in political projects of new parties. They frequently built the identity only on its “newness” backed up by populist appeal and negation of existing political institutions. The example of other post-communist countries show clearly that “newness as political project” provides only short-term success.