Abstract
The admission of the countries of Central and Eastern Europe to the European Union was the culmination of a long, complex and at times ambiguous process. At this point the effect of a country’s accession to the EU on political parties remains unclear. Some argue that ‘the influence of European integration and the prospect of EU enlargement have been pervasive and so strong that it is virtually impossible to disentangle them from the fundamental processes of democratization’ (Lewis, 2005, p. 177). Others are more modest and, in the mid-1990s, find a notable resemblance between West European and East European parties, although West European party systems themselves seem to have experienced little direct impact from European integration (Mair, 2000, pp. 27–51).
Published Version
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