Abstract
This study summarizes the results of a survey instrument received from 130 elite correspondents in seven Central and Eastern European countries. (Our ‘elite’ sample consisted of social and political science university professors and researchers and occupational safety and health professionals in seven countries where the authors had personal and on-going contacts through joint conferences, meetings and research projects.) The survey assessed pre- and post-1989 (through 1991) political, communications and educational variables as well as measures of extent of nationalism and tolerance of ethnic minorities. Political changes occurred in all countries, with the largest noted in the former Czech/ Slovak Republic, Bulgaria, eastern Germany and Romania. While unanimity in high Communist Party control was indicated in all countries (excluding what was once Yugoslavia), some variation in the use of military and police forces was seen before 1989, with the highest potential for the use of force in Romania and former Yugoslavia after 1989, and much lowered prospects for the use of force in the other five countries. Significant democratization of communications also occurred cross-nationally (except for erstwhile Yugoslavia). This was also the case for educational variables, although the change was less than for communications and politics.
This chapter is a revised and extended version of an article published in Politics and the Individual: International Journal of Political Socialization and Political Psychology, vol. 2, no. 2 (1992), pp. 67–86.
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Farnen, R.F., German, D.B. (1994). Elite Perspectives on Political, Communications and Educational Changes in Eastern Europe. In: Nagel, S.S., Rukavishnikov, V. (eds) Eastern European Development and Public Policy. Policy Studies Organization Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-23366-3_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-23366-3_6
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