Developments in Central and East European politics 3

Abstract:

The theatre of world politics is becoming more accustomed to playing on an open stage. The Iron Curtain is not merely drawn back but is now totally destroyed. The form and style of government in former Soviet bloc countries continues to undergo significant change as they face up to the challenges of citizen participation. Challenges contingent upon that change process include development of party systems, reversal of economic decline, and the increasingly difficult position of the elderly, the unemployed and the marginal. This work seeks to address these and other issues in a selection of papers by leading specialists from both sides of the Atlantic.

The book is organised over four parts. Part one opens with a chapter looking to define the other half of Europe and subsequent chapters examine the patterns of change in individual countries or groups of countries. Part two explores 'the framework of politics' addressing such issues as Presidents and Governments, New Parliaments of Central and Eastern Europe, Political Parties, Elections and Voting Behaviour and Constitutional Engineering. The role played by the European Union and the strong influence of the Accession Process are featured in part three which also explores the policy process in more detail, looking at the forms it has taken in the economy and social relations. The closing part four examines the pattern of political change in a wider context and focuses on the prospects for democratic consolidation and trajectories for regime change.

The work will interest scholars and students of comparative politics and international affairs and those with an interest in European enlargement and integration.

Stephen White is Professor of International Politics and a Senior Research Associate of the Institute of Central and East European Studies at the University of Glasgow.