Comparative perspectives on Communist successor parties in Central-Eastern Europe and Eurasia

Abstract

The article builds on Ishiyama's (1998) seminal study of Communist successor parties [Ishiyama, J.T., 1998. Strange bedfellows: explaining political cooperation between communist successor parties and nationalists in Eastern Europe. Nations and Nationalism 4(1), 61–85] by providing the first comparative study of the fate of Communist successor parties in Eurasia and Central-Eastern Europe. The article outlines four paths undertaken by Communist parties in former Communist states: those countries that rapidly transformed Communist parties into center-left parties; countries that were slower at achieving this; countries with imperial legacies; and Eurasian autocracies. The fate of successor Communist parties is discussed within the parameters of previous regime type, political opposition in the Communist era and the nationality question.