John T Ishiyama (EDT) Communist Successor Parties in Post Communist Politics

Annotation

Like most edited volumes, there are a wide variety of themes explored in each of the contributing chapters. At times, the almost bewildering array of potentially relevant factors in explaining the political fortunes of the communist successor parties makes the task of pulling together a coherent set of conclusions a most challenging one. Nonetheless, I attempt to do so in the concluding chapter of this volume. Although daunting, it is also a thoroughly enjoyable task. The contributions in this volume, mainly authored by young scholars, provide fresh insights into the evolution of the communist successor parties in particular, and perhaps into the theories of party development in transitional systems more generally.