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Organizational Continuity And Electoral Endurance: The Communist Party Of Cyprus, Antonis A. Ellinas, Yiannos Katsourides

Antonis A. Ellinas

This article makes a contribution to the understanding of party organization by examining one the most successful West European communist parties, the Communist Party of Cyprus (AKEL). Defying the downward trend of its counterparts and the external shock of Soviet collapse, the AKEL has managed to sustain the support of nearly a third of the electorate. Using original archival evidence and interview data, the article attributes the electoral endurance of the AKEL to organizational continuity. Since its founding, the party has built a robust mass party structure, with an extensive network of auxiliary organizations and strong centralizing mechanisms. During the …