Download or read book Electoral Systems and Political Transformation in Post Communist Europe written by S. Birch and published by Springer. This book was released on 2003-11-25 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Electoral Systems and Political Transformation in Post-Communist Europe assesses the influence of electoral systems on political change in 20 post-communist European states. The main finding is that electoral institutions have systematic effects on the formation of representative structures. 'Party-enabling' aspects of electoral laws such as list proportional representation tend to foster popular inclusion in politics and institutionalized party systems, whereas 'politician-enabling' rules such as single-member districts and ballots that allow voters to select individuals often favour the development of weakly structured systems and high levels of popular exclusion from the representative process.

Download or read book Problems of Democratic Transition and Consolidation written by Juan J. Linz and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 1996-08-16 with total page 508 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 5. Actors and contexts

Download or read book Trust and Democratic Transition in Post communist Europe written by Ivana Marková and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A collection of essays concerned with theoretical and empirical analyses of trust and distrust in post-communist Europe which show that, while political and economic changes can have rapid effects, cultural and psychological changes may linger and influence political trust and representations of democracy.

Download or read book The Democratic Transition of Post Communist Europe written by M. Petrovic and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-12-04 with total page 254 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tracing both economic and political developments through the prism of history as well as more recent developments, this book casts new light on the role of communist history in setting the different regional successes in post-communist transition.

Download or read book Trust and Democratic Transition in Post Communist Europe written by Ivana Marková and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2004-09-09 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: These ten essays are concerned with theoretical and empirical analyses of trust and distrust in post-Communist Europe after the collapse of the Soviet bloc in 1989. Differences between meanings of trust in countries with democratic traditions and in post-totalitarian countries raise questions about the ways in which history, culture and social psychology shape the nature and development of political phenomena. The authors show that while political and economic changes can have rapid effects, cultural and psychological changes may linger behind and influence the quality of political trust and representations of democracy.

Download or read book Democracy and Democratization written by John D Nagle and published by SAGE. This book was released on 1999-05-26 with total page 337 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This wide-ranging overview of the processes of democratization in post-Communist Europe, places the transitions in East-Central Europe within a broad European and global context. The authors begin with a introduction to the concept and theories of democracy and then examine the emerging politics of the new democracies to set the post-Communist transitions in longer-term comparative perspective with earlier and existing processes of democratization in Southern Europe, Latin America, and East and Southeast Asia. Finally the politics of EU accession are introduced to place the transitions within the wider context of European integration. Concluding with a summary of recent critiques of modern democracy and looking toward future theories, this text provides a comprehensive introduction to what will remain the key contemporary issue for all students of political science.

Download or read book Totalitarian Societies and Democratic Transition written by Tommaso Piffer and published by Central European University Press. This book was released on 2017-05-15 with total page 442 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a tribute to the memory of Victor Zaslavsky (1937–2009), sociologist, émigré from the Soviet Union, Canadian citizen, public intellectual, and keen observer of Eastern Europe. In seventeen essays leading European, American and Russian scholars discuss the theory and the history of totalitarian society with a comparative approach. They revisit and reassess what Zaslavsky considered the most important project in the latter part of his life: the analysis of Eastern European - especially Soviet societies and their difficult “transition” after the fall of communism in 1989–91. The variety of the contributions reflects the diversity of specialists in the volume, but also reveals Zaslavsky's gift: he surrounded himself with talented people from many different fields and disciplines. In line with Zaslavsky's work and scholarly method, the book promotes new theoretical and methodological approaches to the concept of totalitarianism for understanding Soviet and East European societies, and the study of fascist and communist regimes in general.

Download or read book Meandering in Transition written by Ostap Kushnir and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2021-08-19 with total page 423 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This edited collection addresses the dynamics of the post-Communist transition in Central Eastern Europe. Its contributors present a detailed analysis of the events unfolding during the last three decades in the region, focusing in particular on identity-building processes and reforms in Belarus, Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Ukraine. The contributors outline reasons why some of these states accomplished a decisive break with the Communist past and became members of European and transatlantic structures, while some opted for pseudo-transition and fostered hybrid political regimes, jeopardizing their genuine integration with the West. A group of states which decided to preserve their Communist legacy is also explained. The collection describes and scrutinizes the formation of geopolitical affiliations and the evolution of discourses of belonging. It also traces the fluctuating dynamics of national decision-making and institution-building, as many of the post-Communist states reconsider and re-elaborate their initial ideas and visions of Europe today. Finally, the collection brings to light the rapidly changing perceptions of the region by the major global actors—the European Union, People’s Republic of China, Russian Federation, and others.

Download or read book The Quality of Democracy in Post Communist Europe written by DEREK HUTCHESON and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2017-07-05 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The countries of the former Eastern Bloc and Soviet Union have exhibited remarkable diversity in their post-communist regime paths. Whereas some states have become demonstrably more democratic and have moved in the space of fifteen years from the periphery to the centre of European politics, in others the political and economic climates seem hardly to be better, and their societies no more free, than in the final years of the Cold War. Assessing progress towards democracy in the former Eastern Bloc - or the lack of it - requires a qualitative examination of post-communist polities. This collection of articles brings together a number of perspectives, both macro and micro-analytical, on the 'quality' of democracy in post-communist Europe. This volume was previously published as a special issue of the Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics.

Download or read book Beyond Post communist Studies written by Terry D. Clark and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-07-08 with total page 190 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book makes the case that several East Central European countries have emerged as fully consolidated democracies. As such, they may be integrated into the mainstream of political science research, and not consigned forever to a transitional category encompassing countries that are now fully democracies as well as some that are not democratic at all. The author outlines the steps of another transition - from post-communist studies to political science research. He demonstrates how institutionalist, or rational choice, theories can be applied to the analysis of political processes in the successfully democratized countries, and proposes a new research agenda for political scientists studying the region. The results of this work can enrich political science as well as our understanding of both democracy and the polities of contemporary Eastern Europe.

Download or read book Skeletons in the Closet written by Monika Nalepa and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2010-01-25 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores pacted transitions to democracy, in which former autocrats are granted amnesty in exchange for allowing free elections.

Download or read book Democracy and Its Alternatives written by Richard Rose and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 1998-10-16 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The collapse of Communism has created the opportunity for democracy to spread from Prague to the Baltic and Black Seas. But the alternatives—dictatorship or totalitarian rule—are more in keeping with the traditions of Central Europe. And for many post-Communist societies, democracy has come to be associated with inflation, unemployment, crime, and corruption. Is it still true, then, as Winston Churchill suggested a half-century ago, that people will accept democracy with all its faults—because it is better than anything else? To find out, political scientists Richard Rose, William Mishler, and Christian Haerpfer examine evidence from post-Communist societies in eastern Europe. Drawing on data from public opinion and exit polls, election results, and interviews, the authors present testable hypotheses regarding regime change, consolidation, and prospects for stabilization. The authors point out that the abrupt transition to democracy in post-Communist countries is normal; gradual evolution in the Anglo-American way is the exception to the rule. While most recent books on democratization focus on Latin America and, to some extent, Asia, the present volume offers a unique look at the process currently under way in nine eastern European countries: the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania, Belarus, and Ukraine. Despite the many problems these post-Communist societies are experiencing in making the transition to a more open and democratic polity, the authors conclude that a little democracy is better than no democracy at all.

Download or read book Democratization in Eastern Europe written by Geoffrey Pridham and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2002-11 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In light of the sudden collape of communist systems in Eastern Europe in 1989-90, this book attempts to explain their democratization from a variety of theoretical perspectives.

Download or read book Post Communist Transition Theory in political transition written by Christian Vogel and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2007-06-08 with total page 21 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seminar paper from the year 2005 in the subject Politics - Region: Eastern Europe, grade: 1,0, University of Tartu (Center of Baltic Studies), course: Post-communist transition and Estonian experience, language: English, abstract: 1. Introduction „Die EU braucht eine Pause zur Besinnung, zur Selbstfindung, zur Konsolidierung.” By proclaiming that the European Union (EU) needs a break for reflection and consolidation, Egon Bahr, who has been an intimate and consultant of the former German chancellor Willy Brandt as well as one of the most important German politicians as far as foreign policy is concerned, is pointing at a major problem of the before said institution. Since the EU enlargement of 10 new states has taken place at the 1st of May 2004, the problem which has been addressed before is even more up to date. Especially the recent argumentation about a common constitution, which is overdue to both providing a proper legal capacity as well as a capability to act, has been proofing that the EU is still far away from a strong, functioning political union. But how is it possible to create such a proper union consisting of 25 members, and most probably 27 by the year 2007, consisting of basically national states being still heavily occupied with dealing with their own backgrounds especially if one has a closer look the former communist states? Is there any strategy of the lowest common denominator of policy advice or do one have to identify the (communist) past in relation to present developments ? Facing this problem, the main purpose of this analysis will be an evaluation of different political transition theories and rating strategies which have been particularly taken into account by the former states behind the iron curtain. Finally this work is aiming at a probably existing connection between a successful political transition and a deeper integration into the European Union. For that reason the first part will give an overall view about the transition issue in general followed by the most relevant transition theories and methods of rating democratic stability thereby mainly focusing on political changes. Since the analysis is only concerning countries gathering the EU, the next part will deal with peculiarities regarding the main political criteria for entering the before mentioned union. The last part should provide a conclusion about the success resp. failure of the scrutinized theories as well as the ongoing European integration.

Download or read book Transition to Democracy in Eastern Europe written by Klaus von Beyme and published by Palgrave Macmillan. This book was released on 1996 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Political Parties and the State in Post Communist Europe written by Petr Kopecky and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2007-10-11 with total page 171 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Previously published as a special issue of The Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics, this volume analyzes the party-state linkages in post-communist Europe alongside three analytical dimensions.

Download or read book Informal Politics in Post Communist Europe written by Michal Klíma and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-09-19 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book offers a fascinating, thought-provoking and ground-breaking study of post-communist political life. It is published just as the countries of Central and Eastern Europe mark thirty years since gaining freedom and have embarked on the path of democracy. This book is one of the first full-length academic works to explore the question of how informal structures, headed by bosses, godfathers and oligarchs, affect formal party politics and democracy. The unique post-communist transition is observed as a specific historical moment of disorder, offering a window of opportunity for the large-scale exploitation of public resources in the sense of a kind of "Klondike Gold Rush." Phenomena of corruption, clientelism, patronage, party capture and state capture are topical themes that are deeply explored. This text will be of key interest to scholars and students of Central and Eastern European politics, democratisation, transitional societies, clientelism, party systems and more broadly of comparative and European politics.