ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the fate of the liberal party family in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries. It reviews the reasons of their relative success, by examining historical, political, and sociological factors. The chapter presents the criteria used to distinguish liberal parties from other centre-right political entities in CEE. It describes the development of liberal parties in CEE, before and after the communist era, and highlights their electoral instability. The chapter provides some explanations for the relative weakness or success of liberal parties in most CEE countries. It addresses the potential of liberal parties and the future challenges that they may face in this fast-changing environment. The chapter also reviews the defining criteria of a party family and shows that the extent to which they are problematic to identify liberal parties in CEE. It suggests that liberal parties in CEE lack a clear ideological profile and that they use party labels mainly as strategic tools.
