Description
Book SynopsisElected Affinities provides a new and comprehensive account of politics in postcommunist Slovakia and the Czech Republic and offers a useful framework for understanding the competing influences of social structure and the contingent decisions of political leaders in new democracies.
Trade Review"
Elected Affinities presents a novel conceptual scheme built upon a wealth of informational building blocks, with a remarkably complete picture of Czech and especially Slovak politics in the 1990s." -- Carol Leff * University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign *
"Kevin Deegan-Krause's work is highly ambitious. It brings together an impressive amount of empirical research and historical background to explore the nature of non-democratic actions on the part of elected leaders. The author has produced a book that is rich in detail while solidly anchored to important theoretical concerns." -- Sharon Wolchik * George Washington University *
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Elected Affinities offers an original theoretical framework to understand the emergence of democracy and party competition in post-communist countries. The empirical analysis focuses on Slovakia and the Czech Republic. The complex national, economic, and constitutional questions facing these countries offer a unique opportunity to highlight the interaction among the forces shaping political outcomes. This book is a must to read for social scientists who are interested in a theoretically sophisticated account of transition and consolidation of democracy." -- Hans-Dieter Klingeman * Free University of Berlin *
Table of ContentsContents List of Tables and Figures Preface and Acknowledgments Introduction Democracy Amid Division Chapter 1 The Accountability Gap Chapter 2 Accountability and Institutions Chapter 3 Institutions, Voter Attitudes, and Issue Divides Chapter 4 Issue Divides, Factors, and Actors Conclusion Slovakia is Everywhere Notes Works Cited Index
