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This conceptually synthetic and empirically rich book demonstrates the vulnerability of democratic settings to authoritarianism and populism. Six scholars from various professional fields explore here the metamorphosis of a political party into a centralized authoritarian system. Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz party needed less than ten years to accomplish this transformation in Hungary. In 2010, after winning a majority that could make changes in the constitution – two-thirds of the parliamentary seats, they evolved and stabilized the system, which produced again the two-thirds majority in 2014 and 2018. The authors reveal how a democratic setting can be used as a device for political captu...
"In this book Prof Balcerowicz brings together 17 academic articles that summarise his research on the process of radical economic transformation... It is an impressive volume which makes a convincing case for the post-communist transition to be as rapid as possible." - Financial Times Balcerowicz summarizes the research on institutions, institutional change, and human behavior that he has undertaken since the late 1970s, including the Polish model of economic reform.
Eastern Europe has become an ideological battleground since the collapse of the Soviet Union, with liberals and authoritarians struggling to seize the ground lost by Marxism. In Fantasies of Salvation, Vladimir Tismaneanu traces the intellectual history of this struggle and warns that authoritarian nationalists pose a serious threat to democratic forces. A leading observer of the often baffling world of post-Communist Europe, Tismaneanu shows that extreme nationalistic and authoritarian thought has been influential in Eastern Europe for much of this century, while liberalism has only shallow historical roots. Despite democratic successes in places such as the Czech Republic and Poland, he ar...
This book presents a wide-ranging assessment of the current state of China’s economy in relation to the global international economy. It discusses the role China has played in responding to the economic crisis; assesses the continuing strong prospects for further economic growth in China; and examines China’s deepening integration into the world economy. Specific topics covered include China’s foreign reserves and global economic recovery; the international expansion of Chinese multinationals and China’s private businesses; and the role of technological innovation in China’s economic growth. Overall, the book provides a wealth of detail and up-to-date insights concerning China’s development path, growth potential, sustainability and impact.
This groundbreaking treatment of post-communist developments in East Central Europe examines politics, economics, media, religious institutions, transitional justice, gender inequality, and literature, highlighting the overt functions, latent functions, and side effects associated with each sphere. Communism in East Central Europe had cracks from the beginning, as uprisings in East Germany in 1953 and Hungary in 1956 demonstrated. But with the establishment of the Independent Trade Union Solidarity in Poland in the Summer of 1980, communism went into steady decline and, between 1988 and 1991, crumbled. What followed has been an unsteady transition to various forms of often corrupt pluralism ...
First published in 1991, this book uses a property rights perspective to analyse why there is such widespread resistance to change in the Soviet Economic System. Many within the ruling stratum benefit considerably from their positions, particularly in terms of access to goods and services. In an original conclusion Jan Winiecki argues that a cost-effective way of removing the resistance of the parasitic ruling stratum would be a system of compensatory payments.
The establishment of electoral systems in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan presents both a complex set of empirical puzzles and a theoretical challenge. Why did three states with similar cultural, historical, and structural legacies establish such different electoral systems? How did these distinct outcomes result from strikingly similar institutional design processes? Explaining these puzzles requires understanding not only the outcome of institutional design but also the intricacies of the process that led to this outcome. Moreover, the transitional context in which these three states designed new electoral rules necessitates an approach that explicitly links process and outcome in a dynamic setting. This book provides such an approach. Finally, it both builds on the key insights of the dominant approaches to explaining institutional origin and change and transcends these approaches by moving beyond the structure versus agency debate.
What happens to student activism once mass protests have disappeared from view, and youth no longer embody the political frustrations and hopes of a nation? After the Revolution chronicles the lives of student activists as they confront the possibilities and disappointments of democracy in the shadow of the recent revolution in Serbia. Greenberg's narrative highlights the stories of young student activists as they seek to define their role and articulate a new form of legitimate political activity, post-socialism. When student activists in Serbia helped topple dictator Slobodan Milosevic on October 5, 2000, they unexpectedly found that the post-revolutionary period brought even greater probl...
This book examines the Chinese model of modernization in three key fields – economic, political and military. The explanations provided here, prepared by Russian analysts, are original because of the authors’ first-hand knowledge of China and their unique professional experience. They share essential insights on China’s model of modernization and its connections to both policy and practice. Focusing on the most vital issues surrounding modernization, and on its impacts on the most important spheres in China, the book offers a valuable asset for the analytical and policy-making community.
International interest in China is increasing. Not surprisingly, China-related news is hitting the headlines of leading international media. This is well grounded, given the fact that China is the largest developing country in the world with almost a quarter of the world's population. However, many reports on China are self-contradictory, which again reveals the complexities of a nation that has experienced dramatic change for over a century. For the outsider, it is virtually impossible to follow China's overriding trends of change without understanding its past and present. This book provides a chronological record of the major changes that have taken place in the Chinese economy over the past five decades.