Understanding Post-Communist Transformation

Understanding Post-Communist Transformation
Author: Richard Rose
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 323
Release: 2009-01-21
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1134016697

The fall of the Berlin Wall launched the transformation of government, economy and society across half of Europe and the former Soviet Union. This text deals with the process of change in former Communist bloc countries, ten of which have become new European Union (EU) democracies while Russia and her neighbours remain burdened by their Soviet legacy. Drawing on more than a hundred public opinion surveys from the New Europe Barometer, the text compares how ordinary people have coped with the stresses and opportunities of transforming Communist societies into post-Communist societies and the resulting differences between peoples in the new EU member states and Russia. Subjects covered by Understanding Post-Communist Transformation include: Stresses and opportunities of economic transformation Social capital and the development of civil society Elections and the complexities of party politics The challenges for the EU of raising standards of democratic governance Differences between Russia’s and the West’s interpretation of political life Written by one of the world's most renowned authorities on this subject, this text is ideal for courses on transition, post-communism, democratization and Russian and Eastern European history and politics.

Post-Communist Democracies and Party Organization

Post-Communist Democracies and Party Organization
Author: Margit Tavits
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 299
Release: 2013-06-24
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1107276802

Scholars of post-communist politics often argue that parties in new democracies lack strong organizations - sizable membership, local presence, and professional management - because they do not need them to win elections and they may hinder a party's flexibility and efficiency in office. Post-Communist Democracies and Party Organization explains why some political parties are better able than others to establish themselves in new democracies and why some excel at staying unified in parliament, whereas others remain dominated by individuals. Focusing on the democratic transitions in post-communist Europe from 1990 to 2010, Margit Tavits demonstrates that the successful establishment of a political party in a new democracy crucially depends on the strength of its organization. Yet not all parties invest in organization development. This book uses data from ten post-communist democracies, including detailed analysis of parties in the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, and Poland.

Elections, Parties and Representation in Post-Communist Europe

Elections, Parties and Representation in Post-Communist Europe
Author: F. Millard
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 375
Release: 2016-01-08
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 023000086X

Elections, Parties and Representation in Post-Communist Europe 1990-2002 stresses the ways in which the development of political parties affected the quality of democracy, the nature of political representation, and political accountability in the early stages of post-communist politics. It also analyzes the nature and consequences of the corpus of parliamentary candidates and deputies for the representation of social classes, women and minorities. In contrast with the wide social profile of communist parliaments, politics largely became the playground of new highly educated male elites.

Electoral Systems and Political Transformation in Post-Communist Europe

Electoral Systems and Political Transformation in Post-Communist Europe
Author: S. Birch
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 220
Release: 2003-11-25
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1403938768

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.

Central and Southeast European Politics since 1989

Central and Southeast European Politics since 1989
Author: Sabrina P. Ramet
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 601
Release: 2010-02-18
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1139487507

The only textbook to provide a complete introduction to post-1989 Central and Southeast European politics, this dynamic volume provides a comprehensive account of the collapse of communism and the massive transformation that the region has witnessed. It brings together 23 leading specialists to trace the course of the dramatic changes accompanying democratization. The text provides country-by-country coverage, identifying common themes and enabling students to see which are shared throughout the area, giving them a sense of its unity and comparability whilst strengthening understanding around its many different trajectories. The dual thematic focus on democratization and Europeanization running through the text also helps to reinforce this learning process. Each chapter contains a factual overview to give the reader context concerning the region which will be useful for specialists and newcomers to the subject alike.

Party Systems and Voter Alignments Revisited

Party Systems and Voter Alignments Revisited
Author: Lauri Karvonen
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 349
Release: 2003-09-02
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1134560036

This timely book updates, and takes stock of, Lipset and Rokkan's classic work Party Systems and Voter Alignments: Cross-National Perspectives, an influential work since its publication in 1967. It examines the significance of the original volume for the history of political sociology, and assesses its theoretical and empirical relevance for the study of contemporary elections, voters and parties. Most importantly this volume gives scope to new areas such as consociational democracies, small island states, and newly democratising Eastern and Central European and Third World countries.

Mapping Value Orientations in Central and Eastern Europe

Mapping Value Orientations in Central and Eastern Europe
Author: Loek Halman
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 317
Release: 2010-11-11
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9004185623

This volume elaborates on a number of issues that seem particular important for the people in Central and Eastern Europe: the development and working of democracy, the public support for, legitimacy and efficacy of democracy and the free market economy, and of course the stability of the newly established political culture.

Runaway State-Building

Runaway State-Building
Author: Conor O'Dwyer
Publisher: JHU Press
Total Pages: 297
Release: 2006-09-14
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0801889219

Here, Conor O'Dwyer introduces the phenomenon of runaway state-building as a consequence of patronage politics in underdeveloped, noncompetitive party systems. Analyzing the cases of three newly democratized nations in Eastern Europe—Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia—O’Dwyer argues that competition among political parties constrains patronage-led state expansion. O’Dwyer uses democratization as a starting point, examining its effects on other aspects of political development. Focusing on the link between electoral competition and state-building, he is able to draw parallels between the problems faced by these three nations and broader historical and contemporary problems of patronage politics—such as urban machines in nineteenth-century America and the Philippines after Marcos. This timely study provides political scientists and political reformers with insights into points in the democratization process where appropriate intervention can minimize runaway state-building and cultivate efficient bureaucracy within a robust and competitive democratic system.