作者: Zdenka Mansfeldová

Dr. Heiko Pleines is head of the Department of Politics and Economics of the Research Centre for East European Studies (Forschungsstelle Osteuropa) and lecturer in comparative politics at the University of Bremen, Germany. His major research interest is the role of non-state actors in political decision-making processes and the resulting impact on political regimes. Dr. Zdenka Mansfeldová is a senior researcher and head of the Department of the Sociology of Politics of the Institute of Sociology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. Her research focuses on political institutionalization and the representation of interests in both political terms (parties and parliament) and the non-political mesostructures of social interests.