ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the development of political parties in countries that joined the European Union (EU) in the first wave of Eastern enlargement in 2004 and 2007; trends elsewhere in other post-communist countries differ considerably because of much lower levels of political stability or political freedoms. It describes types of parties found in the region using a combination of two common approaches: party families and party development. The chapter focuses on the remarkably successful genuinely political parties without clear roots in the transition period and the related phenomenon of major parties suddenly becoming defunct. It also focuses on the internal life of parties through the analytical lens of party resources: symbiosis with the state, party organisations, and membership. The chapter concludes by summarising important trends since the early 1990s and by discussing the relationship between party development and democratic quality.
