Semenova, Elena, Michael Edinger and Heinrich Best. eds. 2013. Parliamentary Elites in Central and Eastern Europe. Recruitment and Representation. London/New York: Routledge. 336 S., € 102.56

Excerpt

The edited volume by Elena Semenova, Michael Edinger and Heinrich Best uncovers common trends and peculiarities of parliamentary elite formation in Central and Eastern Europe since the break-down of communism. The unifying conclusion of the 11 country-specific chapters, but also their joint reflection by the editors, is a growing professionalization of parliamentary elites, meaning “[…] specific political standards and routines that increase an insider-outsider differential” (p. 17). A high level of formal education as well as experience in politics appear decisive for parliamentary careers as rising proportions of university graduates and legislators, who were politically active beforehand, prove. Many recruits of post-communist and socialist parties gathered their experience during communism and profit from “vertical recruitment” to the highest echelon, or “horizontal recruitment” (p. 286) from social and economic organizations, while first-row communist politicians backed out from politics. By comparison, the leading characters of dissident movements disappeared from the political scene shortly after democratization, suggesting that these groups were ill-prepared for governing or had an insufficient level of professionalization. …