Ideology, Party System Institutionalization and Redistribution in Eastern Europe

• In Event: Social Welfare and Redistribution in Post-Communist Nations

Abstract

A vast literature explores the effect of political parties on economic redistribution around the world. Existing scholarship has highlighted the role of partisan ideology, organization, linkages, and associations with diverse constituencies. The structure of the entire partisan system, in contrast, has received relatively little attention. This paper examines how party system institutionalization affects economic inequality and redistribution in Central and Eastern Europe. It departs from the premise that, because of the legacy of communism in the region, countries with more institutionalized party systems will reach higher levels of both economic inequality and economic redistribution. Building on recent research on political parties in CEE, it further argues that partisan ideology loses its predictive power in more institutionalized party systems. We test these hypotheses with data from 11 Central and Eastern European democracies between 2003 to 2019.

Authors

• Ana Petrova, University of Notre Dame

• Bilyana Petrova, Texas Tech University