Transitions To Capitalism And Democracy In Russia And Central Europe

Hancock and Logue, along with their contributors, seek to explicate the achievements, problems, and prospects of simultaneous processes of economic and political transitions from communism to contrasting forms of market economies and democracy in Russia, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovenia, and eastern Germany. Contributors include 14 American and European scholars with intimate professional and personal familiarity with the various case studies. The contributors draw on process analysis and transition theory to explore different national approaches to privatization. This includes individual voucher schemes, the use of investment funds, the direct sale of former state owned enterprises, employee buy outs, direct foreign investments and their consequences for parallel processes of marketization and democratization. A quarter of the volume is devoted to comparative analyses of contrasting modes of privatization, the role of public opinion and law in the transition process, and the international economic and political context of postcommunist transformation. An important analysis for scholars, students, and other researchers involved with postcommunist economic and political change.

here ofexchange, and borrowing in debates between these disciplines, all the more so, as we shall see a little further on, as the analysis of the Central and East European transformations has also contributed to introduce into political science and sociology theoretical systematizations first formulated in economics. In addition to this opening up to the objects and theories of economics, the pseudo-"dilemma" ofsimultaneity produced, by a kind of feedback, another series of effects on transitology and the related research domains. Contrary to most expectations and predictions in the wake ofthe 1989 upheavals - affirmations that the "dilemmas", "problems" or "challenges" of the transitions in Central and Eastern Europe ought to have been dealt with and resolved one after the other in sequence, in the manner of the more or less idealized trajectories of Great Britain or Spain (trajectories significantly enough promoted, far beyond the circles of scholars, as a "model" of transition), and above all, contrary to the assumption that superposing a radical economic transformation upon a transition to democracy would make the whole edifice thoroughly unworkable, unstable or dangerous - it must be stated clearly out that the two processes, in their "simultaneity", are not necessarily incompatible. This is one of the main findings stressed upon in several chapters of this book.

here ofexchange, and borrowing in debates between these disciplines, all the more so, as we shall see a little further on, as the analysis of the Central and East European transformations has also contributed to introduce into political science and sociology theoretical systematizations first formulated in economics. In addition to this opening up to the objects and theories of economics, the pseudo-"dilemma" ofsimultaneity produced, by a kind of feedback, another series of effects on transitology and the related research domains. Contrary to most expectations and predictions in the wake ofthe 1989 upheavals - affirmations that the "dilemmas", "problems" or "challenges" of the transitions in Central and Eastern Europe ought to have been dealt with and resolved one after the other in sequence, in the manner of the more or less idealized trajectories of Great Britain or Spain (trajectories significantly enough promoted, far beyond the circles of scholars, as a "model" of transition), and above all, contrary to the assumption that superposing a radical economic transformation upon a transition to democracy would make the whole edifice thoroughly unworkable, unstable or dangerous - it must be stated clearly out that the two processes, in their "simultaneity", are not necessarily incompatible. This is one of the main findings stressed upon in several chapters of this book.

"The authors examine the progress of six countries (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Russia and Slovakia) in terms of each country's history and its successful application of the five reforms. Anyone interested in how capitalism works and why pro-market reforms encounter resistance in spite of their potential for generating higher living standards will find this book essential reading."--BOOK JACKET.

This book intends to be a contribution to the varieties of capitalism paradigm. Our main question is to what extent the present system in Russia, the model of President Putin is a generic model for all post-communist capitalisms.

When Vladimir Putin claimed "outside forces" were at work during the Ukrainian Orange Revolution of 2004, it was not just a case of paranoia. In this uprising against election fraud, protesters had been trained in political organization and nonviolent resistance by a Western-financed democracy building coalition. Putin's accusations were more than just a call to xenophobic impulses-they were a testament to the pervasive influence of transnational actors in the shaping of postcommunist countries. Despite this, the role of transnational actors has been downplayed or dismissed by many theorists. Realists maintain that only powerful states assert major influence, while others argue that transnational actors affect only rhetoric, not policy outcomes. The editors of this volume contend that transnational actors have exerted a powerful influence in postcommunist transitions. They demonstrate that transitions to democracy, capitalism, and nation-statehood, which scholars thought were likely to undermine one another, were facilitated by the integration of Central and East European states into an international system of complex interdependence. Transnational actors turn out to be the "dark matter" that held the various aspects of the transition together. Transnational actors include international governmental and nongovernmental organizations, corporations, banks, foundations, religious groups, and activist networks, among others. The European Union is the most visible transnational actor in the region, but there are many others, including the OSCE, NATO, Council of Europe, the Catholic Church, and the Soros Foundation. Transnational Actors in Central and East European Transitions assembles leading scholars to debate the role and impact of transnational actors and presents a promising new research program for the study of this rapidly transforming region.

Using a rich set of data from public opinion surveys conducted in the European post-communist states, this book explores popular attitudes on social, economic, and political justice focusing ultimately on OwhatOs fair?O