The Social Democratic Parties in the Visegrád Countries

This book provides an in-depth analysis of the social democratic parties in the four member states of the so-called Visegrád Group- Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia. The timeline spans the last two decades, which saw the parties in question come to power, govern and collapse. The case studies of all four countries are structured in the same way, offering: explanation of the historical background (including electoral results), analyses of the context, structures, membership and voters; evaluation of the programmes and hypotheses for potential future trajectories. Given the European relevance of the topic, the fifth chapter provides a comparative analysis, with a handful of explanations as to why Visegrád Group countries have proved to be tough partners in European integration processes.

Analyses 3 decades of political developments within the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia Explains the rise, the fall, and the fight for the perseverance of the center-left in post-transition countries Investigates the roots of the vulnerability of representative democracies in post-transition countries

Autorentext
Ania Skrzypek is Director for Research and Training at the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS), Belgium.

András Bíró-Nagy is Director of Policy Solutions and Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Social Sciences, Hungary.

Inhalt

1. Introduction.- 2. The Visegrád discomfort: understanding the predicaments of and the prospects for progressivism.- 3. The state of social democracy in the Czech Republic.- 4. The state of social democracy in Hungary.- 5. The state of social democracy in Poland.- 6. The state of social democracy in Slovakia.