Civil Society, Institutional Change, and the Politics of Reform: The Great Transition

Abstract

Nearly two decades after the start of economic and political reforms in the former communist countries, the economic and political outcomes are very diverse. On the one hand, the countries of Central Europe and the Baltics were able, for the most part, to stabilize their economies after a few years of output fall and to recover their pre-1989 output levels. On the other hand, the former Soviet Union (FSU) and former Yugoslavia (with the exception of Slovenia) experienced a much more severe and protracted output drop and, subsequently, also slower recovery (Figure 8.1). Furthermore, market reforms were faster and deeper in the former group of countries while the countries of the FSU lagged behind (EBRD 2007; Kaufmann et al. 2003). The progress with respect to political liberalization was similar. Some post-communist countries, again mostly those in Central Europe and the Baltics, quickly introduced free elections and political freedoms, and stabilized their democracies. In contrast, former Yugoslavia went through a horrible war experience before any substantial democratization could be observed, while most countries of the FSU underwent a period of limited democratization before drifting towards autocratic rule (Figure 8.2).