Csaba Nikolenyi - Institutional Design and Party Government in Post-Communist Europe

Comparative Politics is a series for students, teachers, and researchers of political science that deals with contemporary government and politics. Global in scope, books in the series are characterized by a stress on comparative analysis and strong methodological rigour. The series is published in association with the European Consortium for Political Research. For more information visit www.ecprnet.eu

The Comparative Politics series is edited by Kenneth Carty, Professor of Political Science, University of British Columbia; Ferdinand Mller-Rommel, Director of the Center for the Study of Democracy, Leuphana University; and Emilie van Haute, Professor of Political Science, Universit libre de Bruxelles.

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I owe a deep gratitude to my colleagues, friends, students, and my family whose encouragement and support has made this book possible. My very special thanks to Ken Carty, Reuven Hazan, Bernard Grofman, Steven B. Wolinetz, Keith Dowding, Shaul Shenhav, Ian McAllistar, Bjorn-Erik Rasch, Hanna Beck, and Patrick Dumont for their comments and feedback on earlier drafts in conferences, workshops, and seminars. The Department of Political Science at the Hebrew University, the Department of Political Science at Concordia University, and the Center for European Studies of the Australian National University provided me with opportunities to present and discuss the work at different stages. My research would not have been possible without the generous financial assistance provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Concordia University, and the Center for European Studies of the Australian National University. I was fortunate to have at my disposal the able and dedicated assistance of a number of graduate and undergraduate research assistants from the Department of Political Science at Concordia University. My very special thanks to Dr Marat Grebennikov, Nancy Yacoub, Randy Pinsky, and Brent Gerchicoff. I am indebted to Oxford University Press for the reviewers helpful comments as well as the speed and efficiency of the editorial team. Any mistake, error of commission, or omission remains, of course, my own. Concordia Universitys Faculty of Arts of Science allowed me to spend time away from my teaching and service duties and accept a Visiting Fellowship from the Center for European Studies of the Australian National University during the critical final stage of finishing the manuscript in December 2012.

My wife, Andrea, was a constant source of support and encouragement in times of doubt. My work would never haven been completed without her help and questioning spirit. My father, Gabor, Zsuzsanna, and my in-laws, Drs Csilla and George Gondos have been supportive in many more ways than one can imagine to help my dreams come true. My interest in political life was inspired by my dear mother, Edit, who passed away much too young and early to see this work completed. I remain in her debt forever.