THE EXPERIENCES OF THE 1ST DEMOCRATIC PARLIAMENTS IN EAST-CENTRAL-EUROPE

Parliaments have been the ''central site'' and parties the chief actor s of the East Central European democratic transitions. The parliamenta rization of political life and of its actors has taken the form of ''o verparliamentarization,'' since the East Central European parliaments have had an overwhelmingly dominant role in politics. The parliamentar ization has been both an institutional and an ''educational'' process for the new political elite. The institutional and cultural ''deficit' ' of the newly emerging democratic parliaments has caused a contradict ion between the opportunities and the capacities of the new parliament s, although they have made serious efforts to overcome this deficit.