How and Why Have Domestic Parties Learned from Abroad? The Europeanization of Communist Successor Parties in Selected Post-Yugoslav Countries

Abstract

ABSTRACT Transnational party cooperation (TPC) is treated as a special and unique kind of Europeanization of national political parties. The paper investigates the impact of TPC on communist successor parties (CSPs) from selected post-Yugoslav countries, attempting to explain its main mechanism using the concept of policy transfer, rooted in the perspective of new institutionalism. The major finding is that due to the influence of TPC on CSPs, they have become more similar to their Western European counterparts regarding their programs and internal organization. However, the level of this proximity varies, depending on several local factors.