Description
Here, Conor O'Dwyer introduces the phenomenon of runaway state-building as a consequence of patronage politics in underdeveloped, noncompetitive party systems. Analyzing the cases of three newly democratized nations in Eastern Europe—Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia—O’Dwyer argues that competition among political parties constrains patronage-led state expansion.
O’Dwyer uses democratization as a starting point, examining its effects on other aspects of political development. Focusing on the link between electoral competition and state-building, he is able to draw parallels between the problems faced by these three nations and broader historical and contemporary problems of patronage politics—such as urban machines in nineteenth-century America and the Philippines after Marcos.
This timely study provides political scientists and political reformers with insights into points in the democratization process where appropriate intervention can minimize runaway state-building and cultivate efficient bureaucracy within a robust and competitive democratic system.Reviews
"This book presents a vital new contribution to the growing literature on the postcommunist state and will be essential reading for comparative politics scholars interested in the effects of parties on state-building."—Mitchell Orenstein, Maxwell School of Syracuse University"An ambitious book which contributes to the literature on party-building and patronage politics in important ways. Its challenge to the Europeanization literature will particularly interest students of the European Union. The author has written a theoretically sophisticated comparative study which illuminates both convergence and divergence in the European Union's new accession states and helps us all to better understand when and why the European Union does—or does not—matter."—Alberta Sbragia, director, European Union Center of Excellence "The product of painstaking research — and a keen intellect."—Ray Taras, Russian Review "Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through practitioners."—Choice "Interesting and instructive comparative political analysis."—Donald Pienkos, Polish Review "O'Dwyer's book is an important contribution to the literature on post-communist development."—Neil Robinson, Europe-Asia Studies "The uniqueness of the book lies in its theoretical sophistication substantiated by numerous empirical comparisons across the globe, which makes it a valuable contribution to the literature on comparative politics and political sociology."—Sarbeswar Sahoo, Political Studies Review "It is fully justified to call O'Dwyer's book 'a vital contribution to the growing literature on the postcommunist state.'"—Aleksander Surdej, European Political Science "O'Dwyer's excellent book is surely strong enough to warrant a sequel."—Karen Dawisha, Perspectives on Politics "Extremely thought provoking and well researched."—Steven Saxonberg, Slavic Review
Author Information
Conor O'Dwyer is an assistant professor of political science at the University of Florida.
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Democracy after Communism