Leader vs. the party dilemma: the case of a party rebirth in Czechia

Abstract

Influential individuals gaining political weight at the expense of their parties are succeeding. Through case studies of two Czech parties, we explore the role of personalised party leadership. The puzzling set of events that occurred when SPD reestablished itself in response to the internal crisis in USVIT makes these parties worthy of attention. These parties are studied as part of a broader phenomenon of political personalisation. Our findings show how parties which represent cases of significant personalization operate and how personalisation changes their organisational setup and the behaviour of their voters.