Bloc parties under Communist regimes Bloc party (politics)

1 bloc parties under communist regimes

1.1 east germany
1.2 czechoslovakia
1.3 poland
1.4 bulgaria
1.5 other examples

bloc parties under communist regimes

east germany, czechoslovakia, poland , bulgaria operated bloc party systems non-marxist parties constituent members of official coalition. similar system operates in china today.

east germany

in german democratic republic, national front umbrella organisation included ruling socialist unity party of germany, other political parties , various non-party organisations. along similar lines formation of parties in west germany, new parties in soviet zone (that become german democratic republic) formed replace parties of pre-nazi period, whereas social democratic party of germany , communist party of germany merged form socialist unity party of germany. these parties christian democratic union (cdu), liberal democratic party of germany (ldpd), , later national democratic party of germany (ndpd) , democratic farmers party of germany (dbd).

as communists consolidated power, bloc parties jettisoned original programs. of them nominally embraced socialism, becoming loyal partners of sed. few exceptions, voted unanimously government proposals. 1 of few notable dissension of bloc party occurred in 1972 when members of cdu in volkskammer took stand against legalisation of abortion, party s deputies either voting against law or abstaining.

during die wende bloc parties began assert , emerge independent parties, leading first , free election volkskammer in 1990. during process of german reunification, bloc parties merged western counterparts. non-party organisations such free german youth, kulturbund , democratic women s league of germany broke formal affiliation former ruling party , continue separate organisations today.

czechoslovakia

the 1946 elections saw parties of national front, dominated communist party of czechoslovakia, take part. however, elections competitive, communists , social democrats prevailing in czech lands, , anti-communist democratic party winning comfortable majority in slovakia. in 1948, however, communists seized power , non-marxist parties made subordinate communists. during velvet revolution, parties became more assertive in pressuring change, , transformed democratic politics. christian democratic czechoslovak people s party remains player in czech parliamentary politics.

poland

the 1947 elections blatantly rigged in favour of democratic bloc, communist , socialist parties being merged form polish united workers party (pzpr). in 1952 front of national unity formed, including pzpr, agrarian united people s party (zsl) , centrist democratic party (sd), while 3 catholic associations had representation in sejm. occasionally, deputies these groups (most notably catholic znak) offered limited criticism of government policies. number of deputies bloc parties voted against imposition of martial law in poland, after front of national unity replaced patriotic movement national rebirth included same additional member organisations.

in 1989, partly free elections held in solidarity won overwhelming majority of freely contestable seats- 35% of sejm- while pzpr , bloc parties reserved 65% of seats. zsl , sd formed coalition government solidarity, forming poland s first non-communist government since world war ii. sd continues today, whereas zsl evolved today s polish people s party. 2 of catholic associations sejm representation continue today lay catholic organisations.

bulgaria

during communist rule in bulgaria, bulgarian agrarian people s union other legal party. number of successor parties exist in post-communist bulgaria.

other examples

in china , north korea, bloc parties exist, playing subordinate role ruling communist parties constituent members of official coalitions.