The paper will demonstrate this point by analyzing dynamics of party system development in Croatia from 1990s, when party system was characterized by a dominant party on the right, and fragmented left. This enabled high intra-bloc volatility on the left, splits and mergers of parties and occasional changes in partisan identity, but with the caveat that when parties attempted to cross the dividing line between blocks, they were immediately punished by voters and support for blocks remained broadly stable. The next decade brought a shift towards bipolarity and trend towards denationalization of the party system as smaller national parties waned, especially those trying to occupy pivotal position between two blocks, while electoral support for parties with pronounced regional base visibly increased. However, level of support for at the block level remained stable.
