Center for the Study of Democracy

This paper offers a comparative description and classification of cabinets, ministers and prime ministers duration in Central Eastern Europe. It first defines the date of the “birth” of democratic cabinet “life” in post-communist countries. Second, it describes systematically the duration of post-communist cabinets, ministers and prime ministers during the first fourteen years (1990-2003). This research addresses the following questions: Which are the first democratic governments (founding cabinets) in post-communist Central Eastern Europe (CEE)? What are the appropriate indicators for measuring cabinet duration in CEE? What are the patterns of cabinet, ministerial, and prime ministerial duration in these countries? Do the theoretical assumptions and empirical findings about the duration of coalition types, which have been developed in the cabinet structure approach hold true for CEE cabinets? Which are the most stable cabinet systems in CEE?