Democracy and Post-Communism: Political Change in the Post-Communist World (Routledge Research in Comparative Politics, 1)

The collapse of communism was widely heralded as the dawn of democracy across the former Soviet region. However, the political outcome has been much less uniform. The post-communist states have developed political systems from democracy to dictatorship. Using examples and empirical data collected from twenty-six former Soviet states, Graeme Gill provides a detailed comparative analysis of the core issues of regime change, the creation of civil society, economic reform and the changing nature of post-communism. Within these individual cases, it becomes clear that political outcomes have not been arbitrary, but directly reflect the circumstances surrounding the birth of independence. Students of Comparative Politics, International Relations and Russian and Post-Soviet Studies should find this book essential reading. Book Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 4 Contents......Page 5 List of tables......Page 8 Preface......Page 10 List of abbreviations......Page 12 A democratic post-communism?......Page 18 Negotiating regime change......Page 32 Civil society and the onset of negotiations......Page 100 Creating civil society?......Page 128 Paths to democracy?......Page 191 Conclusion: democracy and post-communism......Page 211 Notes......Page 221 Bibliography......Page 261 Index......Page 281 The fall of the Berlin wall in November 1989, a metaphor for the collapse of communism throughout Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union (FSU) between 1989 and 1991, ushered in a new era in the world politics. Graeme Gill. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [244]-263) And Index.