The study of "party nationalization" is a
young topic in the field of political party
research. It investigates the regional
heterogeneity of political parties.
"Nationalization" stands for the homogeneity
of parties’ electoral support
across regions, or the absence of regional
differences in the party system. This
article shall discuss party nationalization
in the new democracies in Central and
Eastern Europe, presenting for a first time
the degree of party nationalization in 16
countries of the region.
Previous studies on Western societies
have related party nationalization to the
degree of financial centralization: Party
nationalization was seen as a consequence
of centralization of government activities.
This dominating explanation may be
criticized because of endogeneity
problems. Both on theoretical terms and
empirical terms, there is evidence that
party nationalization may be theconsequence for government
centralization – while the existence of
regionally distinct party system (low
nationalization) may lead to claims for
decentralization.
Instead, the cleavage structure, and
particularly ethnic cleavage, appears to
be important for the regional structure of
the party system. An empirical test on
Central and Eastern European countries
shows that indeed the ethnic structure,
combined with electoral system
constraints (high national thresholds) are
the best predictor of the party
nationalization degree.