7
F or e wor d
moderate ones. Further, there is a serious body of research available regarding these par-
ties positing a widespread assumption that alternation in power of the moderate right and
the moderate left as we have known it in the US and Western Europe is the most desirable
scenario for the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.
How, then, did the moderate right develop in the countries of interest in this study? In
probably the most successful conceptual treatment of the moderate right in post-Com-
munist Europe to date, Seán Hanley asserts that the group of moderate center-right parties
should be clearly distinguished from other ‘non-left’ groupings, be they centrist liberals,
national populists (such as the HZDS in Slovakia) or the radical nationalist right. (
See
Hanley, Seán, “Getting the Right Right: Redefining the Centre-Right in Post-Communist
Europe,”
Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics
20:3, pp. 9-27.)
In general, according to this approach,
“the center right in the region… is a product of the politics of late Communism,
domestic reform, European integration and post-Cold War geopolitical realign-
ment, which…powerfully reshaped historical influences and foreign models” (Han-
ley, page 9). Elsewhere Hanley reiterates that center-right parties “must therefore be
understood as essentially ‘new’ political forces, shaped by late Communism and the
subsequent politics of post-communist transformation, rather than a simple throw-
back to the authoritarian conservatisms and integral nationalisms of the past. At the
same time, however, contrary to the assumptions of some writers, the liberal, neo-
liberal, conservative and neo-conservative identities and ideologies adopted by such
forces are more than hasty borrowings from the West or
dictas
from international
financial institutions” (Hanley, page 15).
Crucial for the development of the right in individual countries was a struggle for domi-
nation of the right side of the political spectrum among various ‘versions of the right,’
namely among (market) liberals, (national) conservatives and European-oriented Chris-
tian democrats in the mold of the German center-right umbrella parties. An example of
each of these strains of thought was not present in each country, however, so the internal
back-and-forth on the center right differed widely from place to place. More details about
the results of this struggle are to be found in the concluding chapter of this study.
This struggle for dominance on the right also has systemic importance. Is it possible to speak
of any special role the right-of-center parties played in development of party systems as
such? According to some, yes:
“the development of competitive multi-party systems in East Central Europe has been
driven by the contest between parties to define the post-Communist ‘right.’ The stabi-
lization of the party system reflects directly the extent to which this contest has been
resolved, and this has meant that the competition between a liberal free market right
and Christian national right has been accorded a prominent role. Defining the left
proved easier…” (Sitter, Nick, “Cleavages, Party Strategy and Party System Change in
Europe, East and West”.
Perspectives on European Politics and Society
3:3, pp. 447).
Similarly, Anna Vachudová admits that the question of whether healthy alternation in power
was taking place hinged in part upon the character of the parties on the right in each country.
“It depended on whether moderate right-wing parties emerged that managed to appropriate
the traditional appeals of the right; and on whether they were coherent enough to govern, and
