Personalia
Ekaterina Rashkova, born in Sofia, Bulgaria, 1979. Ph.D. from University of Pittsburgh. Assistant Professor in Comparative Politics at University of Innsbruck, Austria.
EURIAS Fellow (1 September 2015 – 30 June 2016)
Rules of Competition: Electoral Law and Party System Development in Central and Eastern Europe
Research Question
This project examines how do rules of competition affect the party system that ensues. In particular, it studies the incentives and constraints for party competition found in the electoral law, and how they shape party systems. A special interest is given on examining the questions of the number of parties that a given electoral structure produces.
Project Description
The project intends to study the effect of electoral regulation on party system development. In particular, the interest here is to examine how and to what extent does regulation which sets the rules for political conduct within which parties compete affect the number of political parties. The question which will guide this research is how institutions matter? I am interested in ‘un-packing’ the conditions for party competition and analysing their effect on the party system that ensues – from the perspective of opportunities for new party entrants and representation. In doing this, my project aims to contribute to the debate on the link between electoral and party politics, and on representative democracy, more generally.
Selected Publications
1) “Learning the Game: Explaining Party System Convergence in European Democracies”, Political Studies, 2014, 62 (4): 804-823.
2) Deterring New Party Entry? The Impact of State Regulation on the Permeability of Party Systems” (with Ingrid van Biezen), Party Politics, 2014, 20 (6): 890-903.
3) Ethnic Heterogeneity and Party System Size: a District-level Analysis”, Comparative European Politics, 2014, 12: 249-278.