Author Description

Comparative Politics Is A Series For Researchers, Teachers, And Students 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 Series Is Edited By Nicole Bolleyer, Chair Of Comparative Political Science, Geschwister Scholl Institut, Lmu Munich, And Jonathan Slapin, Professor And Chair Of Political Institutions And European Politics, University Of Zurich. Prime Ministers (pms) Are The Most Influential, Powerful, And Visible Politicians In Parliamentary Democracies. Their Prominent Role Has Been Increasing In Western Democracies Due To The 'presidentialization Of Politics'. But Is This Also True For New Democracies, Such As Those In Post-communist Central And Eastern Europe (cee)? As Politics In Cee Has Been Characterized By High Personalization, Weak Voter-party Linkages, And Strong Media Influence Of Political Leaders, Prime-ministerial Performance May Be Even More Important For The Functioning Of Parliamentary Democracy In Those Countries. At The Same Time, Conventional Wisdom Suggests That Prime Ministers In Cee Perform Weakly Because They Lack Political Experience And Operate In An Extraordinarily Difficult Context, But This Assumption Has Not Been Systematically Examined-- Provided By Publisher.