Models of Party Organization for Radical Right and Radical Left Parties in Eastern Europe

Political parties positioned at the extremes of the political spectrum are known for their charismatic leaders and strong ideological discourse. Radical right and radical left parties rely on these to bring electoral success. However, an increasing amount of literature shows that electoral survival is often ensured by building party organizations. The latter differ greatly across the established political actors but little is known about how the organization of radical right and left parties looks like. This paper addresses this gap in the literature and aims to identify models of party organizations at these actors in six East European countries where these exist either inside or outside the legislature. These countries are: Bulgaria, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. Our inductive approach rests on qualitative content analysis of party documents (statutes, programs, website) and covers the last decade (2010–2020).