Transnational Actors in Central and East European Transitions

Transnational Actors in Central and East European Transitions PDF Author: Mitchell Alexander Orenstein
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Pre
ISBN: 9780822973447
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
When Vladimir Putin claimed "outside forces" were at work during the Ukrainian Orange Revolution of 2004, it was not just a case of paranoia. In this uprising against election fraud, protesters had been trained in political organization and nonviolent resistance by a Western-financed democracy building coalition. Putin's accusations were more than just a call to xenophobic impulses-they were a testament to the pervasive influence of transnational actors in the shaping of postcommunist countries. Despite this, the role of transnational actors has been downplayed or dismissed by many theorists. Realists maintain that only powerful states assert major influence, while others argue that transnational actors affect only rhetoric, not policy outcomes. The editors of this volume contend that transnational actors have exerted a powerful influence in postcommunist transitions. They demonstrate that transitions to democracy, capitalism, and nation-statehood, which scholars thought were likely to undermine one another, were facilitated by the integration of Central and East European states into an international system of complex interdependence. Transnational actors turn out to be the "dark matter" that held the various aspects of the transition together. Transnational actors include international governmental and nongovernmental organizations, corporations, banks, foundations, religious groups, and activist networks, among others. The European Union is the most visible transnational actor in the region, but there are many others, including the OSCE, NATO, Council of Europe, the Catholic Church, and the Soros Foundation. Transnational Actors in Central and East European Transitions assembles leading scholars to debate the role and impact of transnational actors and presents a promising new research program for the study of this rapidly transforming region.

Transnational Actors in Central and East European Transitions

Transnational Actors in Central and East European Transitions PDF Author: Mitchell Alexander Orenstein
Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Pre
ISBN: 9780822973447
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 276

Get Book

Book Description
When Vladimir Putin claimed "outside forces" were at work during the Ukrainian Orange Revolution of 2004, it was not just a case of paranoia. In this uprising against election fraud, protesters had been trained in political organization and nonviolent resistance by a Western-financed democracy building coalition. Putin's accusations were more than just a call to xenophobic impulses-they were a testament to the pervasive influence of transnational actors in the shaping of postcommunist countries. Despite this, the role of transnational actors has been downplayed or dismissed by many theorists. Realists maintain that only powerful states assert major influence, while others argue that transnational actors affect only rhetoric, not policy outcomes. The editors of this volume contend that transnational actors have exerted a powerful influence in postcommunist transitions. They demonstrate that transitions to democracy, capitalism, and nation-statehood, which scholars thought were likely to undermine one another, were facilitated by the integration of Central and East European states into an international system of complex interdependence. Transnational actors turn out to be the "dark matter" that held the various aspects of the transition together. Transnational actors include international governmental and nongovernmental organizations, corporations, banks, foundations, religious groups, and activist networks, among others. The European Union is the most visible transnational actor in the region, but there are many others, including the OSCE, NATO, Council of Europe, the Catholic Church, and the Soros Foundation. Transnational Actors in Central and East European Transitions assembles leading scholars to debate the role and impact of transnational actors and presents a promising new research program for the study of this rapidly transforming region.

Democratic Consolidation in Eastern Europe: International and transnational factors

Democratic Consolidation in Eastern Europe: International and transnational factors PDF Author: Jan Zielonka
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199241686
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 569

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Book Description
This second volume in a series of books on democratic consolidation in Eastern Europe analyzes the external parameters of such a consolidation in thirteen Eastern European countries. It explores how different international actors and various economic, cultural, and security types of transnational pressures have shaped democratic politics in the region, especially over the last decade.

(Un)civil Societies

(Un)civil Societies PDF Author: Rachel A. May
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 9780739120651
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
Rachel A. May and Andrew K. Milton have assembled an array of scholars from different disciplines to examine transitional governments in Eastern Europe and Latin America. Drawing on specific political conditions and organized around topics such as the media, political parties, and political violence, (Un)Civil Societies broadens the discussion about democratization both thematically and geographically.

Transitions to Democracy

Transitions to Democracy PDF Author: Geoffrey Pridham
Publisher: Dartmouth Publishing Company
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 680

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Book Description
The phenomenon of transitions to liberal democracy has become a major concern for political scientists in recent decades. This text covers conceptual issues for regime change, theoretical and comparative interpretations of transition and authoritarian collapse, national case-studies of transition (divided into three area studies), the international context of transition, the move towards democratic consolidation, and the future of democratic transition studies.

Central and East European Politics

Central and East European Politics PDF Author: Sharon L. Wolchik
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1442224223
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 567

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Book Description
Now fully updated, this text explores the post-communist half of Europe along with the problems and potential it brings, offering an authoritative and up-to-date analysis of the transformations in today’s Central and Eastern Europe, the Baltics, and Ukraine.

Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe

Civil Society in Central and Eastern Europe PDF Author: Sabine Fischer
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 3838200411
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 178

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Book Description
As well as promoting debates about liberal democracy, the dramatic events of 1989 also bought forth a powerful revival in the interest of the notion of civil society. This revival was reflected mainly in two broad tracts of literature. The first was primarily focused on the events surrounding the Solidarity movement in Poland and the tumultuous events of 1980-81. The second was concerned with the ‘Velvet Revolutions’ more broadly. Following the events of 1989, there appeared a number of works sharing the common central argument that civil society played a key role in the overthrow of these Communist regimes in 1989. Challenging the centrally accepted wisdom that dissent in totalitarian regimes was representative of civil society, Civil Society and Communism posits the argument that the totalitarian public sphere, a new theoretical typology, presents a more robust and rigorous way by which to understand dissent and opposition in totalitarian Czechoslovakia, Poland and the GDR.

Party Politics in Central and Eastern Europe

Party Politics in Central and Eastern Europe PDF Author: Tim Haughton
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 131798739X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
What impact has EU membership had on party politics in Central and Eastern Europe? Although there is an emerging body of literature on the Europeanization of political parties, most of these accounts focus exclusively on Western Europe. Drawing on a range of qualitative and quantitative approaches including detailed studies of party programmes and manifestos, analysis of the media, semi-structured interviews and expert surveys, this collection provides not just conceptually informed, but also empirically rooted analyses of party politics in Central and Eastern Europe during the first four years of EU membership. In particular, the contributions assess the impact of EU membership on parties’ internal balance of power, the use of European issues in inter-party competition, the role of transnational party federations and the broader role the EU plays in party politics. The findings not only shed light on the impact of EU membership on party organization and programmes, they also inform broader debates concerning the dynamics, fluidity and motors of party politics in Central and Eastern Europe. This book was based on a special issue of Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics.

The Transnationalization of Economies, States, and Civil Societies

The Transnationalization of Economies, States, and Civil Societies PDF Author: Laszlo Bruszt
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0387893393
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
This book brings together the study of transnationalization in three institutional fields: civil society, state and the economy. It also extends the research of processes of transnationalization to evolving new democracies and emerging market economies.

Transnational Capitalism in East Central Europe's Heavy Industry

Transnational Capitalism in East Central Europe's Heavy Industry PDF Author: Aleksandra Sznajder Lee
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
ISBN: 047212191X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
Focusing on the steel industry during the post-communist transition from 1989 through 2009, Aleksandra Sznajder Lee traces the transformation of flagship state enterprises in the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, and Slovakia into the subsidiaries of large, international corporations. By analyzing this transformation at the three levels of enterprise, sector, and national-international nexus, she identifies the players—from international investors and European Union members to national labor unions and local industry managers—in the political economy of reform. Even in the midst of the transition to a capitalist, democratic system, Sznajder Lee finds, the state plays a key role in mediating between domestic vested interests and external pressures from international financial markets and institutions, on the one hand, and regional institutions on the other. Whereas state power may be employed to require domestic firms to operate as capitalists in the international market, it may also be used to shield enterprises from market pressures in order to promote the political and personal preferences of the elite. This book has broad implications for the political economy of reform because it illuminates the political determinants of privatization and the resources used to resist it. In addition, Sznajder Lee sheds new light on why some countries are more likely than others to be subject to external constraints, such as IMF conditionality, and how some allegedly pro-market reformers manage to maintain public ownership over certain industry sectors.

International Dimensions of Authoritarian Persistence

International Dimensions of Authoritarian Persistence PDF Author: Rachel Vanderhill
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 0739181599
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 282

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Book Description
This book examines how international factors interact with domestic conditions to enable the persistence of authoritarianism in post-Soviet states. Several of these states are understudied in political science and their inclusion in this volume helps us develop a better understanding of the experiences, issues, and problems of post-communism.