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Does Lustration Promote Trustworthy Governance? An Exploration of the Experience of Central and Eastern Europe

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Building a Trustworthy State in Post-Socialist Transition

Part of the book series: Political Evolution and Institutional Change ((PEIC))

Abstract

Post-Soviet governments in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) face a double bind in their transition to democracy. They aspire to create responsive and trustworthy governments operating within the rule of law Simultaneously, they want to meet the demands of citizens and politicians to hold accountable those who maintained the discredited regime and especially those who participated actively in the reign of terror. Trustworthy government rests on due process and equity; revenge and punishment often entail violation of these principles. The trade-off between respect for individual rights and the implementation of transitional justice is a dilemma for many societies with a legacy of dictatorship and repression (Barahona de Brito et al. 2001).

This essay benefited from the criticisms of János Kornai and Susan Rose-Ackerman, the organizers of the project, and the other participants in the workshop.We are particularly grateful to Antal Örkény, András Sajó, Péter Hack, György Péteri, Anna Grzymala-Busse, Pauline Jones Luong, Bo Rothstein, and Barry Weingast for their insightful readings and comments. Barna Ildikó helped us in our largely unsuccessful search for useful and current public opinion data.We thank her and the Budapest Collegium for supporting this research. Levi also thanks the Russell Sage Foundation for its continuing support of her research.

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Authors
  1. Cynthia M. Horne
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  2. Margaret Levi
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Editor information

János Kornai Susan Rose-Ackerman

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© 2004 János Kornai and Susan Rose-Ackerman

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Horne, C.M., Levi, M. (2004). Does Lustration Promote Trustworthy Governance? An Exploration of the Experience of Central and Eastern Europe. In: Kornai, J., Rose-Ackerman, S. (eds) Building a Trustworthy State in Post-Socialist Transition. Political Evolution and Institutional Change. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781403981103_4

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