When Europeanisation meets organisation: enhancing the rights of party members in Central and Eastern Europe

The participation of members in intra-party decision-making has been extensively documented in the literature. This article brings forward the concept of party member rights that adds the dimension of freedom of opinion and action within the party. It aims to identify the causes behind these rights in political parties from three Central and Eastern European countries (Hungary, Romania and Slovakia). It argues and tests how party age, Europeanisation and party leadership change may enhance PMR. The empirical evidence draws on an original dataset based on standardised content analysis of 142 party statutes between 1988 and 2012. The results reveal important and robust effects of these variables when controlling for other determinants.