Corruption and Electoral Support for New Political Parties in Central and Eastern Europe

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Corruption and Electoral Support for New Political Parties in Central and Eastern Europe. / Engler, Sarah.
In: West European Politics, Vol. 39, No. 2, 03.03.2016, p. 278-304.

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@article{bbc86644a22e4314a4a7223b2faefc7d,
title = "Corruption and Electoral Support for New Political Parties in Central and Eastern Europe",
abstract = "More than 20 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the electoral volatility in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) is still remarkably high. A considerable part of the volatility derives from the votes for new political parties, since they are very often on the winning side of elections. This article examines corruption as a potential determinant of their electoral support. It argues that the effect of corruption is twofold: on the one hand, the historically derived corruption level reduces the electoral support for new political parties due to strong clientelist structures that bind the electorate to the established parties. On the other hand, an increase in perceived corruption above the traditional corruption level leads to a loss of trust in the political elite and therefore boosts the electoral support for new competitors. A statistical analysis of all democratic elections in CEE between 1996 and 2013 confirms these two counteracting effects.",
keywords = "Central and Eastern Europe, clientelism, corruption, new political parties, party–voter linkages, volatility, Politics",
author = "Sarah Engler",
note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2015 Taylor & Francis.",
year = "2016",
month = mar,
day = "3",
doi = "10.1080/01402382.2015.1084127",
language = "English",
volume = "39",
pages = "278--304",
journal = "West European Politics",
issn = "0140-2382",
publisher = "Taylor & Francis",
number = "2",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Corruption and Electoral Support for New Political Parties in Central and Eastern Europe

AU - Engler, Sarah

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2015 Taylor & Francis.

PY - 2016/3/3

Y1 - 2016/3/3

N2 - More than 20 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the electoral volatility in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) is still remarkably high. A considerable part of the volatility derives from the votes for new political parties, since they are very often on the winning side of elections. This article examines corruption as a potential determinant of their electoral support. It argues that the effect of corruption is twofold: on the one hand, the historically derived corruption level reduces the electoral support for new political parties due to strong clientelist structures that bind the electorate to the established parties. On the other hand, an increase in perceived corruption above the traditional corruption level leads to a loss of trust in the political elite and therefore boosts the electoral support for new competitors. A statistical analysis of all democratic elections in CEE between 1996 and 2013 confirms these two counteracting effects.

AB - More than 20 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the electoral volatility in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) is still remarkably high. A considerable part of the volatility derives from the votes for new political parties, since they are very often on the winning side of elections. This article examines corruption as a potential determinant of their electoral support. It argues that the effect of corruption is twofold: on the one hand, the historically derived corruption level reduces the electoral support for new political parties due to strong clientelist structures that bind the electorate to the established parties. On the other hand, an increase in perceived corruption above the traditional corruption level leads to a loss of trust in the political elite and therefore boosts the electoral support for new competitors. A statistical analysis of all democratic elections in CEE between 1996 and 2013 confirms these two counteracting effects.

KW - Central and Eastern Europe

KW - clientelism

KW - corruption

KW - new political parties

KW - party–voter linkages

KW - volatility

KW - Politics

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84957725767&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1080/01402382.2015.1084127

DO - 10.1080/01402382.2015.1084127

M3 - Journal articles

AN - SCOPUS:84957725767

VL - 39

SP - 278

EP - 304

JO - West European Politics

JF - West European Politics

SN - 0140-2382

IS - 2

ER -