Developments in Central and East European Politics 4

Front Cover
Stephen White, Judy Batt, Paul G. Lewis
Duke University Press, 2007 - 310 pages
The face of Central and Eastern Europe has been dramatically transformed since the collapse of communism. The region faces new challenges, including the needs to find a balance between effective leadership and accountability and to reverse the economic decline of the late communist years. Addressing these concerns and others, Developments in Central and East European Politics 4 brings together specially commissioned chapters by leading scholars from both sides of the Atlantic.

The chapters, all of which are new to this edition, focus on key features of the political systems that have emerged following the transition to postcommunist rule and the enlargement of the European Union through 2006. Full attention is given to the pattern of events in individual nations, but the main emphasis is on the framework of politics across the region--constitutions, leadership, parliaments, parties, and electoral systems--and the process of politics, as it is revealed in political participation, civil society, economic change, and the quality of democratic government within and beyond the region.

Clearly written and well supported with references and suggestions for further reading, Developments in Central and East European Politics 4 is the ideal guide to the process of change in a group of states that were formerly modeled on the Soviet Union but are now a distinctive and varied presence within a continent that has been redefining its boundaries, its values, its economic systems, and its international allegiances.

Contributors. Judy Batt, Dirk Berg-Schlosser, Sarah Birch, Heather Grabbe, Tim Haughton, Krzysztof Jasiewicz, Petr Kopecký, Paul G. Lewis, Frances Millard, Cas Mudde, D. Mario Nuti, Mark Pittaway, Ray Taras, Stephen White, Andrew Wilson, Kataryna Wolczuk

From inside the book

Contents

Defining Central and Eastern Europe
1
From Communist to PostCommunist Politics
20
2
27
3
36
Political parties and party systems
42
The voters and the public
51
Meeting the challenges of postcommunism
57
energy security and terrorism
69
Electoral Systems
161
Electoral system effects in Central and Eastern Europe
169
Structure and organization
180
Europeanization and the CEE party spectrum
186
Conclusion
192
Elections and voting behaviour
200
Membership in political organizations
207
Civil Society
213

The impact of political culture 74 80 2
74
transition in wartorn societies
85
The development of political systems
93
Current issues
104
Central and Eastern Europe and the EU
110
the potentially transformative effect
117
What happens after accession?
123
The preference for mixed political systems
130
The background of Central and Eastern European leaders
139
Structures of Representation
145
Executivelegislative relations
153
Conclusion
159
Key relationships
219
Legacies of the past
225
Poland
234
Conclusion
243
Managing Transition Economies
245
Gradualism versus shock therapy
254
Lessons and prospects
260
Identifying liberal democracies and nondemocracies
266
Socioeconomic performance
272
Bibliography
282
Index
308
Copyright

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About the author (2007)

Stephen White is the James Bryce Professor of Politics, a Senior Research Associate of the School of Central and East European Studies at Glasgow University, and a Visiting Professor at the Institute of Applied Politics in Moscow. White graduated from Trinity College Dublin with degrees in history and political science, and then completed a PhD in Soviet studies at Glasgow - including an exchange year at Moscow State University - and a DPhil in politics at Wolfson College Oxford. He was elected a Fellow of the British Academy in 2010. Stephen White is the author of numerous articles and books on Soviet and Russian politics.

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