ABSTRACT
In parallel with growing skepticism regarding the transparency of democratic political institutions and their policy-making mechanisms in modem democracies there is a growing demand to reveal and understand these mechanisms. It is a general understanding that "the new East European Constitutions tend to favor parliament more than other recent European constitutions". Parliamentary party groups are of high importance because the formation of multipartism was closely connected to the parliamentary arena: party institutionalization took place first of all within the parliamentary arena, and parties’ major terrain of activity remains in parliament because in their linkage functions most parties were and remained weak. Despite the short time span of democratic legislative experiences in the three countries, the legislative environment can be outlined in a developmental perspective. Differences and changes are apparent between the first and the second and third terms.
