Democracy and Authoritarianism in the Postcommunist World

Cambridge University Press, 11/30/2009
EAN 9780521115988, ISBN10: 0521115981

Hardcover, 360 pages, 23.4 x 15.6 x 2.4 cm
Language: English
Originally published in English

Democracy and Authoritarianism in the Postcommunist World examines three waves of democratic change that took place in eleven different former Communist nations. It draws important conclusions about the rise, development, and breakdown of both democracy and dictatorship in each country, providing a comparative perspective on the post-Communist world. The first democratic wave to sweep this region encompasses the rapid rise of democratic regimes from 1989 to 1992 from the ashes of Communism and Communist states. The second wave arose with accession to the European Union (from 2004 to 2007) and the third, with the electoral defeat of dictators (1996 to 2005) in Croatia, Serbia, Georgia, and Ukraine. The authors of each chapter in this volume examine both internal and external dimensions of both democratic success and failure.

Prologue Valerie Bunce, Michael McFaul and Kathryn Stoner-Weiss
Part I. Waves of Regime Change
From Dictatorship to Democracy … and Back?
1. The missing variable
the 'international system' as the link between third and fourth wave models of democratization Michael McFaul
2. A regional tradition
the diffusion of democratic change under communism and post-communism Valerie Bunce and Sharon Wolchick
Part II. Encouraging Democracy
The Role of the EU
3. When Europeanization meets transformation
lessons from the unfinished East European revolutions Alina Pippidi
4. Democratization in post-communist Europe
illiberal regimes and the leverage of the European Union Milada Vachudova
Part III. Choosing Regime Change
Democratizing Elections
5. A post-communist transition in two acts
the 1996–97 antigovernment struggle in Bulgaria as a bridge between the 1989–92 and 1996–2007 democratization waves in Eastern Europe Tsveta Petrova
6. Defining and domesticating the electoral model
a comparison of Slovakia and Serbia Valerie Bunce and Sharon Wolchik
7. Georgia's rose revolution
from regime weakness to regime collapse Cory Welt
8. Importing revolution
internal and external factors in Ukraine's 2004 democratic breakthrough Michael McFaul
Part IV. Resisting Reform
Backsliding Democracies and Enduring Autocracies
9. Resistance to contagion
sources of authoritarian stability in the former Soviet Union Lucan Way
10. Comparing oranges and apples
the internal and external dimensions of Russia's turn away from democracy Kathryn Stoner-Weiss
11. Contagion deterred
preemptive authoritarianism in the former Soviet Union (the case of Belarus) Vitali Silitski
12. A horse of a different color
revolution and regression and Kyrgyzstan Scott Radnitz
Epilogue
the changing character of the global struggle for democracy Valerie Bunce, Michael McFaul and Kathryn Stoner-Weiss.