Ethnos,demos and democratization: A comparison of the Czech Republic,Hungary and Poland

With the collapse of European communism, Western observers and leaders fostered new expectations about the relative likelihood for post‐communist nations to ‘join the West’. The Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary were seen as least problematic candidates, sponsored especially by the German leadership. A troubling issue however is the emerging pattern of ethnos‐politics, identity politics based on blood ties, as opposed to demos‐politics, civic politics based on universal territorial citizenship. In the Czech Republic this ethnos‐politics appears most clearly as anti‐Romany racism and governmental discrimination. In Poland and Hungary, centre‐right parties have developed a politics of ethnic patriotism which labels opponents as traitors and foreign elements. In these nations, political liberalism has been too weak and often too opportunist to offer a viable demos‐politics as a counterweight. Instead, the ex‐communist successor parties in Poland and Hungary have re‐emerged as the mass base for a non‐nationalist demos‐politics. The West has yet to take seriously the new ethnos‐politics, prefering to give priority to economic and foreign‐policy compatibility. The admission of these nations into the European Union or North Atlantic Treaty Organization would give new legitimacy to ethnos within the West, and reinforce the ethnos‐politics of Austria's Haider and France's LePen.     

In the wake of revolution: Eastern Europe in the 1990s

Summary

A ‘new world order’ and a ‘Europe whole and free’ are phrases that epitomize the hopeful rhetoric born of East European revolutions in 1989. In the three years since we were awed by the courage of citizens disgusted with communist party rule, and surprised by the rapidity of such regimes’ demise, socio‐economic and political realities have dimmed hopes and constrained expectations. The work of building free governments and free markets after decades of neglect and abuse faces East Europeans in the 1990s and beyond.

The dangers suggested above are not hyperbole, and represent real and present threats to the hopes of Poles, Romanians, and the other people, for better futures. Comparisons across the region are much less valid than at any time in the last half century. Nevertheless, the goals of post‐communist leaders ‐ security, democracy and market ‐ face similar extraordinary challenges that can easily derail these processes. Americans and our longstanding allies cannot ensure the survival and further development of East European democracy, but we must certainly be more engaged in helping them help themselves.     

Conflicts between east European states and minorities in an age of democracy

Conflict between dominant and subordinate ethnic groups in eastern Europe has greatly complicated efforts to build stable and just democratic systems in the region. Leaders of new states as well as rulers whose authority extends from the communist era have attempted to create political systems where competition is clearly along ethnic lines. Polarisation and violence have resulted from the manipulation of ethnic feeling, but there are also a range of factors which have encouraged majority and minority representatives to show mutual restraint at crucial moments.

The internationalisation of East European nationality disputes and the gradual acceptance by a number of states of group rights to stand alongside individual ones, have cooled down a number of disputes and possibly forestalled new ones. But the national question will be a troubling one for many still‐fragile democracies unless strong external incentives are offered which encourage states to conciliate internal minorities and estranged neighbours.     

The European ‘Other’ in Poland’s Conservative Identity Project

Since taking office in November 2015, Poland’s conservative government has pressed for a sweeping reinterpretation of the past, and a re-envisioning of the future, of the political community. This conservative identity project idealises the allegedly fully sovereign Poland of the interwar period and repudiates the normative commitments underpinning Poland’s accession to the European Union. The worldview of the conservative government’s liberal critics, by contrast, represents a fusion of the inclusive nationalism asserted in opposition to communist rule with the affirmation of a European identity. The reawakening of historically resonant debates about the nature of Poland’s European-ness, emphasizing the centrality of the (Western) European ‘other’ in Poland’s national idea, carries significant implications for its relations within the international environment.     

The Center-Periphery Cleavage Revisited: East and Central Europe from Postcommunism to Euroscepticism

The article examines the evolution of Eastern and Central European party systems from the previous communist/anticommunist conflict to the emergent division between pro-EU and Eurosceptic forces and puts forward a revised view of the traditional center-periphery cleavage in six countries: Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Romania. The first part addresses the question of “stateness” and the second the Rokkan spatial approach while the third develops a revised view of the center-periphery cleavage in relation to space at the national (minority ethnic groups vs. state), regional (EU vs. Eastern European member states), and global (USSR vs. satellite countries during the bipolar system) levels.     

The Pleiades Join the Stars: Transatlanticism and Eastern Enlargement

EU enlargement and the inclusion of countries previously under communist domination led many West Europeans as well as Americans to think these countries would play the role of a ‘Trojan Horse’. These new EU members indeed have tended to approach the US with greater understanding, but these attitudes differ little from those of Western Europe after the end of World War II. East European pro-Americanism may turn out, however, to be short-lived. This paper argues that the real tension within Europe comes not from the East Europeans' attitudes toward transatlanticism or the Iraq War but rather from their dramatically different experiences under Soviet rule. Based on their empirical experience with Moscow and vital national interests in the democratisation of the EU's neighbourhood, the new members are unlikely to challenge old members over the US; when it comes to Russia, the prospects are quite different.     

Democratization and party development in Eastern Europe

Awareness of the problems of prediction has come to the fore with the ending of the cold war and uncertainty has become a major feature of areas affected by it, not least the countries of eastern Europe in relation to the development of democratic institutions and practices. Party development is a central part of this process and one recent attempt to theorize it directs attention, rather like the approach taken by modern chaos theory, to the persistent influence of starting conditions and a particular blend of lightly structured growth from a more tightly coordinated set of preconditions. This framework is applied to the complex developments in post‐communist Poland, and three families of political parties are identified by applying Panebianco's genetic model. The components of this model are, it is argued, quite useful in accounting for the relative success of post‐communist parties and the failure of the political formations that derived from the previously authoritative Solidarity movement.     

The Origins of Atlanticism in Central and Eastern Europe

This article argues that the Atlanticism of Central and Eastern Europe originates in a specific set of historical experiences these countries have had with the United States over the past century. These include the Central and East European encounter with both Nazi and communist totalitarian regimes; a recognition of the leading role the US played in toppling communism and in facilitating the integration of these countries into Euro-Atlantic institutions; and the strategic calculation of many countries in the region that their national interests in Europe are better preserved via active American engagement that balances the influence of other major European powers.     

Exporting democracy: German political foundations in Central‐East Europe

In the liberal political tradition, representative government, civil society and some form of market are widely regarded as indispensable ingredients of democracy. The first two are essentially ‘home grown’, embedded in the enduring, albeit not immutable, political culture of a given society if they are to have substance as well as form. None the less, western democracies have been actively engaged in transplanting organizations to bolster civil society, along with political institutions, constitutions, and legal codes to Central‐East Europe (CEE) since 1989 as part of their democratization assistance.

This article examines if, and how, external assistance can intervene constructively to promote the development of democracy. A brief discussion of western assumptions about post‐communist society in CEE is followed by a review of the roles assigned to culture and institutions in the transition literature which undergird these assumptions. The comparative cultural advantages of the United States and Germany ‐ the two primary western actors in the region ‐ are outlined, coupled with a more detailed examination of German political foundation engagement in CEE.

The German political foundations were selected to anchor the study empirically because in terms of method and strategy, resources and level of engagement, they do everything right according to studies critical of western democratization assistance. In addition, their home political culture is very similar to that of the host societies in CEE. In short, their operational conditions present a best case scenario.

None the less, the study shows that in some of their highest priority, politically motivated projects, the foundations have not made much of an impression on the CEE landscape. New parties and labour unions they supported have failed or are terminally ill. Many new non‐governmental organizations have been set up but their sustainability is open to question. Projecting donor preferences onto CEE is integral to the problem. The greatest risk is to fabricate the appearance of deep‐rooted democracy by focusing on form at the expense of content. The proliferation of parties and nongovernmental organizations per se tells us little about their ability to integrate the public actively and constructively into the new systems.     

Five Lessons from 1989 Poland for U.S. Support to Transforming Countries

The administration of George H. W. Bush was faced with an immediate challenge in 1989 with the success of the Polish Roundtable Accords between the independent trade union, Solidarity, and Poland’s communist government. The Bush administration wanted to support what could become fundamental change in Central and eastern Europe without strengthening the communist governments. They also felt they had to deal with budget constraints in the United States. They developed a five-step approach that mobilized Western support for democracy in Poland, set the model for other countries emerging from communism, but did not give carte blanche to non-democratic regimes. It is useful to remember these five steps in light of more recent U.S. approaches.     

The quality of democracy: Mass‐elite linkages in the Czech republic

This article argues for the importance of more focused scholarly attention on the development of mass‐elite linkages ‐ and in particular those linkages that transcend the electoral connection ‐ for understanding democratic consolidation, drawing on the post‐communist experience of the Czech Republic as a case study. Starting with the government's loss of its majority in the 1996 Czech elections amidst favourable economic conditions, we argue that this electoral result goes beyond the response to policy priorities to point to larger deficits in the development of channels of access and communication in the policy‐making process. Such deficits, characteristic of the post‐communist experience regionally, are not merely legacies of the stunted civil societies of the communist period, but also reflect a post‐communist style of governance that may itself discourage regularized citizen and associational input. As the episodic electoral connection alone cannot bear the weight of democratic consolidation, the risk is a pattern of mass‐elite linkages that creates a punctuated politics of elections and street demonstrations.     

Democratization in Bosnia: The limits of civil society building strategies

For many commentators, the construction of civil society in East European states is considered a precondition for the development of consolidated democratic institutions. Nowhere is this more the case than within Bosnia‐Herzegovina, where ethnic and nationalist identification indicate a deeply politically segmented society. To challenge this segmentation international institutions are providing financial and technical support to a growing civil society sector based on non‐governmental organizations. Research into the civil society support work of the Democratization Branch of the Organization for Security and Co‐operation in Europe indicates that the predominantly middle‐class constituency of these groups reflects the extensive external international regulation of the new state under the Dayton Peace Agreement. However, the extension of autonomy and self‐government may well create more fruitful conditions for the growth of civil society alternatives.     

Democratization in the Balkans: Challenges and prospects

The post‐communist states of the Balkans face daunting challenges as they experiment with pluralism. The absence of a strong democratic tradition, national rivalries within and between states, weak civil society, and the impact of communism on political culture, complicate the emergence of open politics. There is a lack of agreement about the management of political competition and an absence of political institutions able to integrate conflicting forces. Compared with democratizing southern Europe, the Balkans faces numerous handicaps, and support from heartland democracies has been meagre. The fate of democracy may well be determined by events outside local control, namely the economic situation and the outcome of the war in former Yugoslavia.     

Italian neo‐fascist terrorism: A comparative perspective

Right‐wing violence in Italy has displayed characteristics that set it apart from the violent operations of rightist groups active in the other Western democracies. In the Italian case the violence has been protracted, stretching from the immediate postwar period to our own time. For the most part, it has been aimed at Communists and other leftists rather than racial or ethnic minorities. And it has appeared in a variety of forms, ranging from street‐corner brawling to terrorist bombing campaigns to schemes designed to achieve a coup d'état. In addition to offering a detailed account of neo‐Fascist violence in Italy over the past four decades, this study places the phenomenon in the general context of Italian politics and seeks to explain the violence by reference to the Cold War‐based objectives of various anti‐communist organizations.     

The latest Turkish–Greek détente: instrumentalist play for EU membership,or long‐term institutionalist cooperation?

The recent thaw in bilateral Greek–Turkish relations is promising, yet insufficient for future stability and cooperation in and around the Aegean Sea. The main reason lies in the prevalence of instrumental‐strategic thinking on the part of both states. Neither Greece nor Turkey has approached the settlement of their disputes from a perspective that would imply an eagerness to build a collective identity based on the institutional norms of European international society as represented by the European Union. On the contrary, Europeanisation has not been an end in itself but a means for the materialisation of their preconceived national interests. The underlying motivation behind their attempts to reach a solution appears to have arisen from instrumental concerns vis‐à‐vis both the EU and each other. The dynamics of their independent relations with the European Union seem to have compelled them to come to a modus vivendi over these issues, since otherwise their relative status vis‐à‐vis the EU would likely deteriorate. This article will discuss the main aspects of the latest Turkish–Greek cooperation process within the framework of rationalist instrumentalist and sociological institutionalist debate in international relations theory. It will be contended that a lasting and long‐term cooperation between the two countries can only follow the formation of collective identities and common national foreign policy interests, particularly as they relate to the European Union framework.     

After decolonization: Australia and the emergence of the non‐aligned movement in Asia, 1954–55

This article is a study of the response of the Australian government under Robert Menzies to the emergence of the Afro‐Asian movement in the mid‐1950s, especially the element of the non‐aligned nations, which culminated in the Bandung meeting of April 1955. Non‐alignment and anti‐colonialism posed direct threats to the Menzies government's plans for the defence of Southeast Asia and its foreign policy for the region. The study of the Australian response to the Bandung meeting reveals the different legacies which European imperialism left behind in Australia compared with its neighbours in south and east Asia.     

The OSCE and ethnic conflicts in Estonia,Georgia, and Tajikstan: A search for sustainable peace and its limits

This article analyzes some of the experiences of the OSCE in Estonia, Georgia, and Tajikistan. Conflicts in these three countries followed the demise of the Soviet Union and had basic aspects in common: actual and potential border claims; the presence of a large number of national minorities whose ethnicity is shared with neighbouring kin‐ethnic states; as well as conflicting claims of national self‐determination and territorial integrity. By comparing and contrasting these cases, this article discusses the implications of the OSCE's approach and its limits in the context of the former Soviet Union, and offers some policy recommendations for the future OSCE's activities in this region. The central arguments are as follows: the OSCE has played a significant role in building a sustainable peace in the former Soviet Union where few European institutions have attempted to intervene; and that while being heavily influenced by Russian policies, the OSCE's activities in the CIS were not simple reflections of Russian interests.     

Democratic change in Russia and Ukraine

The transitions in Russia and Ukraine since 1991 offer contrasting patterns of political and social reconstitution. Facing similar problems, Russia forced the pace and embarked on rapid economic and political reform whereas Ukraine sought a more gradual strategy. Neither country, however, has been able to avoid disintegratory pressures on the state and society disrupting the state and nation building endeavours. The challenge of creating new political orders of stable government came into conflict with the democratization project. The outlines of a ‘post’ post‐communist polity in which the goals of stability and democracy can be reconciled are barely visible.     

Governance in Central Asia: national in form,Soviet in content

American policy toward Central Asia is based on a serious misperception of the region's problems and potential for non‐violent political change. The reality is that the five Central Asian states are not post‐Soviet but neo‐Soviet. The former Communist Party bosses retain the nomenklatura system of centralised and hierarchical rule. The regimes also resemble the clan‐based autocracies of post‐colonial Africa, but with the mechanisms of the modern police state. These countries face all the challenges common to the Third World, but are less amenable to positive external influences or to the development of pluralist politics and civil society. While the regimes have mixed prospects for retaining power, none is likely to succeed in economic development or in responding to social change.     

IAI Library notes

Building bridges : an Egypt‐U.S. free trade agreement / Ahmed Galal and Robert Z. Lawrence, editors. ‐Washington : Brookings Institution Press, c1998. ‐x, 121 p. ‐ ISBN 0–8157–3030–6

The burden of collective goodwill: the international involvement in the Liberian Civil War / Abiodun Alao. ‐ Aldershot : Ashgate, c1998. ‐ xiv, 226 p. ‐ ISBN 1–84014–318–5

La crisi albanese del 1997: l'azione dell'ltalia e delle organizzazioni internazion‐ali: verso un nuovo modello di gestione delle crisi? / a cura di Andrea de Guttry e Fabrizio Pagani. ‐ Milano : Franco Angeli, c1999. ‐ 349 p. ‐ ISBN 88–464–1454–3

Dal mercato unico alla moneta unica : le politiche di integrazione dell'Unione Euro‐pea / Umberto Triulzi; prefazione di Lamberto Dini. ‐ Formello : SEAM, 1999. ‐ 848 p. ‐ (Sviluppo e competenze). ‐ ISBN 88–8179–215‐X

Democracy and development: allies or adversaries? / R.C. Bhardwaj, K. Vijayakrishnan. ‐ Aldershot : Ashgate, c1998. ‐ xii, 222 p. ‐ ISBN 1–84014–033‐X

The economics of European integration : theory, practice, policy / Willem Molle. ‐3.ed. ‐ Aldershot : Ashgate, c1997. ‐ xiv, 570 p. ‐ ISBN 1–84014–035–6 (pbk)

Europe: rethinking the boundaries / edited by Philomena Murray and Leslie Holmes. ‐ Aldershot : Ashgate, c1998. ‐ xii, 179 p. ‐ ISBN 1–84014–003–8

Germany, Europe and the persistence of nations : transformation, interests and identity, 1989–1996 / Stephen Wood. ‐ Aldershot : Ashgate, c1998. ‐ x, 381 p. ‐ISBN 1–84014–444–0

The legislator: German parliament as a centre of political decision‐making / Klaus von Beyme. ‐ Aldershot: Ashgate, c1998. ‐ x, 207 p. ‐ ISBN 1–84014–433–5

Memories of Europe's future: farewell to yesteryear / Simon Serfaty. ‐ Washington D.C. : The CSIS Press, c1999. ‐ x, 149 p. ‐ (Significant issues series). ‐ ISBN 0–89206–347–5

Multinational naval cooperation and foreign policy into the 21st century / edited by Fred W. Crickard, Paul T. Mitchell and Katherine Orr. ‐ Aldershot : Ashgate, c1998. ‐ xxiv, 305 p. ‐ ISBN 1–85521–997–2

Perspectives on development: the Euro‐Mediterranean Partnership / edited by George Joffé. ‐ London : Frank Cass, c1999. ‐ 282 p. ‐ ISBN 0–7146–4939–2

The political economy of transition in central and eastern Europe : the light(s) at the end of the tunnel / edited by Jens Bastian. ‐ Aldershot: Ashgate, c1998. ‐ xii, 194 p. ‐ ISBN 1–85972–661–5

The plurality of truth: a critique of research on the state and European integration / Hanna Ojanen. ‐ Aldershot: Ashgate, c1998. ‐ xii, 377 p. ‐ ISBN 1–84014–402–5

Rethinking the international conflict in communist and post‐communist states: essays in honour of Miklós Molnàr / edited by Renéo Lukic. ‐ Aldershot : Ashgate, c1998. ‐ xiv, 175 p. ‐ ISBN 1–84014–476–9

Security, arms control and defence restructuring in East Asia / edited by Bjørn Møller. ‐ Aldershot : Ashgate, c1998. ‐ viii, 286 p. ‐ ISBN 1–84014–006–2

Storia del Kuwait: gli arabi, il petrolio, I'Occidente / Stefano Beltrame. ‐ Padova : CEDAM, c1999. ‐ XIV, 332 p. ‐ (Università degli studi di Padova. Dipartimento di studi internazionali ; 9). ‐ ISBN 88–13–21869–9