Rise of Entrepreneurial Parties in European Politics

Vít Hloušek is Professor of European Politics at Masaryk University, Czech Republic. Lubomír Kopeček is Professor of Political Science at Masaryk University, Czech Republic. Petra Vodová is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Hradec Králové, Czech Republic.

• Chapter 1 Introduction.- Chapter 2 Political entrepreneurs and their parties: conceptual and typological issues.- Chapter 3 The party as a spin-off from a business empire.- Chapter 4 Two tycoons and their one-man shows.- Chapter 5 Entrepreneurial parties without firms and without members.- Chapter 6 How to build a party organisation without financial capital.- Chapter 7 Collapse or survival: the organisational resilience of entrepreneurial parties.

“The book has succeeded in moving us forward in the continuous search for different party types. Its definition, typology and differentiation of specific entrepreneurial parties should be appreciated, not only by political scientists and students of politics, but also by politicians and journalists, interested in the practice of party politics.” (Lukáš Hájek, European Political Science, Vol. 21, 2022)“The book makes important conceptual, analytical and empirical contributions to the study of party politics. … the study provides a comprehensive account of recent developments that informs us about the variation between entrepreneurial parties. The book is a meticulous and extensively documented study that could be useful to both academic audiences and practitioners interested in the formation, persistence and failure of new parties.” (Sergiu Gherghina, Party Politics, Vol. 28 (5), 2022)“This is a highly relevant and pioneering study that should intrigue all academics studying European politics. … Richness of the accounts the book offers is its yet another major strength, arising certainly to no small degree from the brave descriptions of all sorts of behind-closed-doors dealings. Indeed, with how well the book documents the party-building process with respect to its success or failure, one could even remark that it would make an excellent read for political entrepreneurs themselves.” (Filip Fila, Journal of Contemporary European Studies, November 11, 2020)