Really Independent? Biographies and Typology of Non-Partisan Presidential Candidates in Europe

This research article examines the relatively unresearched area in political science – the non-partisanship in the presidential election in Europe after 1989. Although the apparent clarity of the concept was shown, the phenomenon of non-partisan candidacy is not so clear, and it largely relates to party politics. The analysis introduces the composition of this group of candidates for the office of the head of state in terms of age, education, previous political skills and gender. At the same time, I identified five main types of non-partisan candidates based on their partisan background and their real status at the time of the election. Combining these two factors, it was proved that the phenomenon cannot be examined as a separate question. The analysis shows the complexity of the phenomenon. At the same time, the heterogeneity of the phenomenon is connected with a different level of the party system institutionalisation (PSI), but not so much as would be expected.