Ekaterina Rashkova’s thesis has been selected for the UniCredit and Universities Foundation’s CEE Best PhD Thesis Award aimed at young PhDs from the 19 East European countries belonging to the geographical scope of　the Group. The 6 outstanding dissertations in economics, political economy, banking or finance will be awarded in the Group’s headquarters in Milan in June 2011. Ekaterina’s dissertation contributes to the debate on the determinants of the number of parties and offers a new approach on conceptualizing and explaining party system convergence which is tested on European democracies. Her work is available at the Foundation's Working Paper Series while being prepared to be published as a book.