The Quality Of Democracy In Post-communist Europe

by Derek Hutcheson;

• ISBN13: 9780415348072
• ISBN10: 0415348072
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-12-19
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Fifteen years on from the collapse of the Berlin Wall, Europe is a very different place. It is no longer possible to speak of 'Eastern Europe' as a homogenous group of states. The countries of the former Eastern Bloc and the former Soviet Union have exhibited remarkable diversity in their post-communist regime paths. Whereas some states have become demonstrably more democratic and have moved in the space of fifteen years from the periphery to the centre of European politics, in others the political and economic climates seem hardly to be better, and their societies no more free, than in the final years of the Cold War. Assessing progress towards democracy in the former Eastern Bloc - or the lack of it - requires a qualitative examination of post-communist polities. This collection of articles brings together a number of perspectives, both macro and micro-analytical, on the 'quality' of democracy in post-communist Europe, a decade-and-a-half on from the start of the transition process. Thisvolume was previously published as a special issue of theJournal of Communist Studies andTransition Politics.

Table of Contents

Notes on Contributors	vi
Preface	1	(4)
Derek S. Hutcheson
Elena A. Korosteleva
1. 'Good' and 'Bad' Democracies: How to Conduct Research into the Quality of Democracy	5	(23)
Leonardo Morlino
2. The Quality of Democracies in Europe as Measured by Current Indicators of Democratization and Good Governance	28	(28)
Dirk Berg-Schlosser
3. The Misuse of Referendums in Post-Communist Europe	56	(25)
Clare McManus-Czubinska
William L. Miller
Radoslaw Markowski
Jacek Wasilewski
4. Dimensions of Disengagement in Post-Communist Russia	81	(17)
Stephen White
Ian McAllister
5. Disengaged or Disenchanted? The Vote 'Against All' in Post-Communist Russia	98	(24)
Derek S. Hutcheson
6. The Quality of Democracy in Belarus and Ukraine	122	(21)
Elena A. Korosteleva
7. The Sources and Dynamics of Competitive Authoritarianism in Ukraine	143	(19)
Lucan A. Way
8. Conclusion: Democracy in Post-Communist Europe: Fifteen Years On	162	(4)
Paul G. Lewis
Index	166