Ideologisk konvergens mellan öst och väst? : de europeiska partifamiljerna 1990-2013

• In this paper we compare ideological positions of political parties in Eastern and Western Europe. As the Communist regimes collapsed and new democracies began to emerge in Eastern Europe, it became obvious that historical and cultural differences existed in relation to Western Europe. This was not least visible among the political parties. When the West European parties initiated contacts with potential sister parties in the East, noticeable differences were revealed in several issues. In general, the eastern parties appeared to be more nationalist, more populist and less tolerant towards minorities than their Western sister parties. The question raised in this paper is whether these differences, have faded or not during the 25-year period after 1989. In order to perform this analysis, the three largest and most influential party families are selected: the Christian Democratic EPP, the Social Democratic PES and the Liberal ALDE. Departing from election manifesto data compiled by the Comparative Manifesto Project, we have performed a time series analysis ranging from 1990 to 2013. Here, the Eastern parties are compared to their Western sister parties within each party family. Firstly, they are compared along the general left-right dimension, and secondly they are compared in specific issues, which have been conceived as delicate matter: the view on the EU, nationalism and view on multiculturalism.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Statsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Political Science (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Ideological convergence

political parties

party families

Europarty

Europeanisation.

Political Science

Statskunskap

Intercultural Studies

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

art (subject category)