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Political Institutions and Policy Performance: A Comparative Analysis of Central and Eastern Europe

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 February 2010

DETLEF JAHN
Affiliation:
Political Science, Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald, D-17487 Greifswald, Germany, email: djahn@uni-greifswald.de
FERDINAND MÜLLER-ROMMEL
Affiliation:
Centre for the Study of Democracy, Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, D- 21335 Lüneburg, Germany, email: muero@uni.leuphana.de

Abstract

The impact of political institutions on policy performance has been a major research question in studies of advanced democracies. This study analyzes the effects of institutions and political actors on economic, social and environmental policies in ten Central Eastern European countries from 1995 to 2004. Using time-series-cross section (TSCS) regression analysis, this study shows that the impact of institutional veto players on policy output is more significant than international pressure. Moreover, the communist legacy has a much higher effect on policy output than expected.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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