FORMATION OF PARTY CLEAVAGES IN POSTCOMMUNIST DEMOCRACIES - THEORETICAL PROPOSITIONS

Research on post-communist party systems must deal with (1) the extent to which party systems crystallize around programmatic cleavages or a re based on clientelistic or charismatic parties and (2) if programmat ic competition is high, the content of the major divisions that are re presented by the parties. The extent to which programmatic structuring takes place in post-communism depends on countries' democratic experi ence and the nature of their democratic institutions fostering more pe rsonalized or more depersonalized power relations. These institutions, in turn, are influenced by the pathways of transition from communism to democracy, the type of communist rule and earlier traditions of dem ocratization and industrialization in the inter-war era. With regard t o the content of cleavage divisions, the paper identifies several conf igurations of party systems. Determinants are derived from voters' eco nomic interests, the varying salience of socio-cultural conflicts in p ostcommunist countries and the relations among ethnic groups.