Post-Communist Politics: Democratic Prospects in Russia and Eastern Europe (Significant Issues Series)

The author has identified, analyzed and compared four models of conversion from authoritarian to democratic rule - Russia, Poland, the former Czechoslovakia and Hungary. In this book he explores the origins and development of the revolutions, formations and consolidations of the post-Communist states, focusing particularly upon questions of territorial integrity and division of power. Concluding that although Poland, Hungary and the former Czechoslovakia meet the basic requirement of a democratic system, Russia has not yet reached that point. Instead, McFaul argues, the transition there has only just begun and faces much greater obstacles than any other post-Communist.