THE ADAPTATION OF EX-COMMUNIST PARTIES TO POSTCOMMUNIST EAST-CENTRAL-EUROPE - A COMPARATIVE-STUDY OF THE EAST-GERMAN AND HUNGARIAN EX-COMMUNIST PARTIES

The ''Ex-communist party'' label has often been used to describe the p olitical ideas and political behavior of the former ruling communist p arties operating in post-communist political systems. Yet, the former ruling communist parties have not only followed diverse paths of organ izational transformation, but also have developed very different strat egic visions of their role in the politics of post-communism. By compa ring the political environments faced by the former ruling organizatio ns of East Germany and Hungary and then utilizing content analysis to identify the strategic visions of each of the two organizations, this article demonstrates how different post-communist national political s ettings have resulted in divergent strategic visions for successor par ties in Germany and Hungary. (C) 1998 The Regents of the University of California. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.