After Communism: Perspectives on Democracy

by Donald R. Kelley

Overview

In this collection, top scholars of Soviet and post-Soviet studies convene to explore communism's aftermath. They consider state building and consitutionalism; the transition to market capitalism and democracy across Eastern Europe; the political development of Muslim states; the complex and differential developments of electoral systems; the risks and opportunities of nationalism; and new political and economic activities in Russia, from corruption to contracts. Editor Donald Kelley introduces the volume with a synthesis of the theoretical and empirical findings of the volume, and his brief chapter introductions place each contribution in relation to the other essays and to larger debates on democratization.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781557287465
Publisher:	University of Arkansas Press
Publication date:	05/01/2003
Series:	The Fulbright Institute Series on International Affairs , #1
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	312
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Donald R. Kelley is the director of the Fulbright Institute of International Relations at the University of Arkansas. His many books include Politics in Russia and the Successor States (Harcourt Brace, 1999).

Table of Contents

1	What Is to Be Done?	1
2	The Complexity of Democratic Consolidation	7
3	Comparative Democratization: Lessons from the Post-Socialist Experience	31
4	A Decade of Change but Not Much Progress: How Russians Are Coping	61
5	Taming Vlast: Institutional Development in Post-Communist Russia	89
6	Social Relations and Political Practices in Post-Communist Russia	119
7	Russia in the Middle: State Building and the Rule of Law	143
8	Democracy and Counterinsurgency in Central Asia	161
9	Institutionalizing Electoral Democracy in Post-Communist States	187
10	A Decade of Nonnationalism?: Regime Change As Surrogate for Identity Change	221
11	Consolidation As a Work in Progress	239
	Notes	253
	Contributors	295
	Index	297

Editorial Reviews

"Established, respected scholars of communist and postcommunist political systems provide state-of-the-art assessments of the status of the Russian and Central Asian political systems-and of Western scholarship on them. A synthesis of current understanding of the processes of political transition underway across much of the post-Soviet space."
—Roger Kanet, editor of The Post-Communist States in the World Community
 

From the Publisher