The Presidentialisation of Political Parties in the Western Balkans

This book examines the process of presidentialisation of political parties in the Western Balkans. The Western Balkan countries deserve to be analysed in a comparative perspective due to their distinctive features in terms of processes of democratization, forms of government and institutional assets, the presence of social cleavages (religious, linguistic, ethnic), and, of course, the nature of political parties which differs from other European cases, especially in terms of origins, organization and structure. However, Western Balkan political parties do show certain similarities with other West European cases where power is centralised and held by the parties’ leadership. The book ultimately attempts to test whether and to what extent the influence of institutional variables affects the level of presidentialisation of political parties, also considering the parties’ organization features.   

1. the Presidentialisation of Political Parties in the Western Balkans.- 2. the Presidentialisation of Political Parties in Croatia.- 3. the Presidentialisation of Political Parties in Bosnia and Herzegovina: A Mitigated Presidentialism.- 4. the Presidentialisation of Political Parties in Macedonia: The Role of Ethnics.- 5. the Presidentialisation of Political Parties in Montenegro: A Limited Semi-Presidentialism.- 6. the Presidentialisation of Political Parties in Slovenia: Leaders and Parties.- 7. the Presidentialisation of Political Parties in Albania: The Parliamentary Constraints.- 8. the Presidentialisation of Political Parties in Kosovo: The Institutional Limits.

Gianluca Passarelli is Associate Professor in Political Science at the Department of Political Sciences, Sapienza University, Roma, Italy. His main research interests are presidential politics, political parties, electoral systems, elections and electoral behaviour. Among his recent publications are articles appearing in Party Politics, Political Geography, Representation, French Politics, and Political Studies Review.