Democracy and Its Alternatives: Understanding Post-Communist Societies - Couverture rigide

Rose, Richard; Etc.; Mishler, William; Haerpfer, Christian

Couverture rigide

ISBN 10 : 0801860377 ISBN 13 : 9780801860379

Editeur : Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998

A propos du livre

Présentation de l'éditeur :

The collapse of communism has created the opportunity for democracyto spread from Prague to the Baltic and the Black seas. But thealternatives – dictatorship or totalitarian rule – are more inkeeping with the traditions of Central and Eastern Europe.

Will people put up with new democracies which are associated withinflation, unemployment, crime and corruption? Or will they returnto some form of authoritarian regime? Half a century ago, WinstonChurchill predicted that people will accept democracy with all itsfaults – because it is better than anything else that has ever beentried. To find out if Churchill was right, this book analyses aunique source of evidence about public opinion, the New DemocraciesBarometer, covering the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland,Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania, Belarus and Ukraine.

The authors find that there is widespread popular support fordemocracy compared to communism, dictatorship and military rule.People who have been denied democratic freedoms value new politicalrights more highly. Economic concerns are second in importance. Ifdemocracy fails, it will be because political elites have abusedtheir power, not because the public does not want democracy.

Looking at post–communist Europe makes us think again aboutdemocracy in countries where it is taken for granted. The abrupttransition to democracy in post–communist countries is normal;gradual evolution in the Anglo–American style is the exception tothe rule. Complaints in Western countries about democracy beingless than ideal reflect confidence that there is no alternative.Post–communist citizens do not have this luxury: they must make themost of what they have.

This important book makes an important contribution to currentdebates about democratization and democratic theory and to thegrowing literature on the social and political changes taking placein post–communist societies. It will be of particular interest tostudents and scholars in politics and sociology.

Revue de presse :

"No challenge is more important to the democratic stability afterthe transition than building public support for democracy, and norecent study better illuminates the determinants of that supportthan this engaging, pathbreaking and methodologically innovativebook. This is not just a book for specialists in public opinion orpost–communist states: it should be read by anyone concerned withthe fate of the new democracies of the "third wave"." LarryDiamond, Senior Research Fellow, Hoover Institution, StanfordUniversity

"After the fall of the Berlin Wall, we need to understand whatis happening in the post–communist world. This book joins theoryand a unique wealth of survey data from countries of Central andEastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. There is no more timelybook on democracy." Juan J. Linz, Sterling Professor of Politicsand Social Science, Yale University

"What makes people living under post–communism "buy" liberaldemocracy and reject its authoritarian alternatives? Starting withan original reading of Schumpeter and Churchill, Rose and hisco–authors offer a number of fresh answers based on comparativesurvey analysis. The overall optimistic answer is that Central EastEuropean democracy is well on its way to completion and that thisholds true even in the absence of economic miracles. A must forstudents of post–communist societies." Claus Offe, Professor ofPolitical Science at Humboldt University, Berlin

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Date d'édition: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0801860377
• ISBN 13: 9780801860379
• Reliure: Relié
• Nombre de pages: 272