A Quarter Century of Post-Communism Assessed

This edited volume seeks to understand and explain the pattern of varying national and regional success in post-communist political and economic transition across the post-communist world. Despite widespread hopes for the development of vigorous democratic political systems and vibrant market economies, the outcomes of a quarter century of post-communist transition in the countries of the former communist bloc in Eurasia have been widely variant. Some have matched these hopes, including becoming full members of the EU; others have fallen far short, with political and economic systems little changed from the communist era. This collection, with an internationally respected list of contributors, addresses some of the pressing issues in political science and transition studies, ranging from theoretical overviews to the more specific nitty-gritty of contemporary politics.

“An impressively well-informed and perceptive overview of post-Communism by a strong team of specialists” (Archie Brown, Oxford University, author of “The Rise and Fall of Communism” (2009))

“Bringing together an impressive range of authors, each of whom is a leading specialist in their field, this is a welcome review of a quarter-century of post-communism. The starting point for the 30 countries covered in the volume was roughly the same, but the diversity of outcomes is striking. There is no single determinant shaping the trajectory of the countries, and instead the book provides a marvellous account of the different journeys and the variety of destinations. This is an essential work for all those interested in Eastern Europe and post-Soviet Eurasia.”  (Richard Sakwa, University of Kent, author of “Frontline Ukraine: Crisis in the Borderlands” (2015))

“This volume probes whether the notion of a post-communist region today is mere social construction. ... Featuring a roster of academic specialists as diverse as the countries they study, A Quarter Century of Post-Communism Assessed engages in a rigid, in-depth examination of how particular structures and actors have shaped the political fortunes of Visegard countries, Baltic and Balkan states, and post-Soviet republics. It critically evaluates processes of democratisation, constitutional engineering, Europeanisation, rule-of-law implementation, and such post-communist pathologies as corruption and ethnic schisms. Readers will be intrigued by the lively account of history’s multiple twists and turns across a vast space over a short timeframe that this volume provides.” (Raymond Taras, Political Science, Tulane University, editor of “Russia's Identity in International Relations” (2012))

M. Steven Fish is Professor of Political Science at the University of California-Berkeley. He has published six authored or co-authored books and numerous journal articles and book chapters on democracy and regime change in developing and post-communist countries, religion and politics, and constitutional systems and national legislatures. His book Are Muslims Distinctive? A Look at the Evidence (Oxford, 2011) was selected for Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles, 2012: Top 25 Books.

Graeme Gill is Professor Emeritus of Government and Public Administration at the University of Sydney and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia. He has been President of the International Council for Central and East European Studies (ICCEES) since 2010 and has been a visiting fellow at several universities abroad. In addition to several co-authored and edited volumes, he has published twelve authored books on various aspects of Soviet and Russian politics.

Dr Milenko Petrovic, is Senior Lecturer Above the Bar at the National Centre for Research on Europe and at the Department of Global, Cultural and Language Studies, University of Canterbury, New Zealand. He is the author of The Democratic Transition of Post-Communist Europe – in the shadow of communist differences and an uneven Europeanisation (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013) and the author/co-editor of two other volumes and numerous journal articles and shorter contributions on comparative politics, post-communist transition and EU enlargement.