The Future of Liberal Revolution

Since 1989, the Cold War has ended, new nations have emerged in Eastern Europe and revolutionary struggles to establish liberal ideals have been waged agains repressive governments throughout the world. Will the promise of liberalism be realized? In this book, a leading political theorist discusses the possibility of liberal democracy in Western and Eastern Europe and offers practical suggestions for its realization. Acherman begins by sketching the challenges faced by a Western Europe free for the first time in half a century to determine its own fate without the constant intervention of the United States and Soviet Union. Ackerman next considers Eastern Europe and discusses fundamental problems overlooked in the rush to build market economies there. He points out that leading countries - including Poland, Hungary and Russia - have yet to establish new constitutions, contenting themselves with amendments to old communist documents. Ackerman sees this as a mistake. Ackerman concludes by considering the impact of 1989 on South Africa, Latin America and the United States, exploring how decisive liberal action throughout the world can help to expand the range of functioning constitutional democracies and recover liberalism's lost revolutionary heritage.