Post-Communist Politics: An Introduction

This book presents a detailed, up-to-date review of political changes in Eastern Europe. Even better, it offers a framework for understanding those changes -- and what may happen next.This is an up-to-date, detailed analysis and review of the political evolution of post-Communist Eastern Europe. It clarifies the chronology of changes in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, with details on new institutions, elections and contentious issues. It also places this information in an analytic framework that reviews the general problems of state construction and economic reform. The book is divided into four chronological eras. In 1989, it explains how politics were reborn in the USSR and revolutions took place in Eastern Europe. In 1990-1992, the book describes how the republics of the former Soviet Union took hold, and the nations of Eastern Europe sought to build democratic legitimacy. It covers the 1992-1993 era of "politics as crisis." Finally, in 1994-1996, the book presents the clear outlines of new political systems and post-Communist politics as they took shape.All professionals, students and others interested in Eastern European politics.