Book Proposal: Rethinking the Role of Parties in Hybrid Regimes – Lessons from Constitutional Shifts Weakening the Presidency in Eastern Europe

This paper outlines a planned co-authored monograph (Thomas Sedelius, Jenny Åberg, Kjetil Duvold) examining how political parties have shaped and responded to constitutional reforms that reduce presidential power in post-Soviet hybrid regimes. The study challenges conventional understandings of political parties in post-Soviet hybrid regimes by exploring their role as both drivers and subjects of constitutional reforms that reduce presidential power. While the democratization literature often links a weakened presidency with a strengthened party system and enhanced parliamentary accountability, little attention has been given to the active role of political parties in initiating these shifts at the outset. Drawing on the observation by Larry Diamond (2021, 30) that democratic regressions are often led by “elected political leaders, greedy for power and wealth, who knock away various types of constraints on their power,” this book examines how, despite these tendencies, political parties in the post-Soviet space have sometimes succeeded in reversing executive dominance. The book offers a comparative analysis of four hybrid regimes in the Caucasus and Eastern Europe: Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine. These countries have been marked by recurring shifts between democratic and autocratic rule. Anchored in a comparative project financed by the Foundation for Baltic and East European Studies, the book combines structured comparison with case-based analyses, supported by expert interviews, V-Dem indicators, literature, and primary documents. Overall, the book seeks to contribute to a deeper understanding of the strategic role of political parties in hybrid regimes and their capacity to shape constitutional outcomes, challenging the prevailing view that parties in the post-Soviet region are merely passive actors in the face of strong presidential power.