A Concise Field Guide to Post-Communist Regimes
Actors, Institutions, and Dynamics
1st Edition
Published on 9. August 2022
264 pages
978-963-386-588-0 (ISBN)
Description
While the literature of hybrid regimes has given up the presumption that post-communist countries must democratize, its language and concepts still mostly relate to Western democracies. Magyar and Madlovics strongly argue for a vocabulary and grammar tailored to the specifics of the region. In 120 theses they unfold a conceptual framework with (1) a typology of post-communist regimes and (2) a detailed presentation of ideal-type actors and the political, economic, and social phenomena in these regimes. The book is a more digestible companion to the 800-page The Anatomy of Post-Communist Regimes (CEU Press, 2020), which was a detailed theoretical study with plenty of empirical illustrations.
Each of the 120 theses contains a statement and its concise discussion supported by illustrative tables, figures, and QR-codes that connect the interested reader to the more detailed analysis in the Anatomy. In a condensed variety, this book has kept the holistic approach of the Anatomy and treats the spheres of political, market, and communal action as parts of a single, coherent whole. The endeavor to synthesize a vast range of ideas does not, however, result in a too complicated text. On the contrary, freed from the implicit presumptions of democracy theory, the new terminology yields a readily usable toolkit of unambiguous means of expression to speak about post-communism.
Each of the 120 theses contains a statement and its concise discussion supported by illustrative tables, figures, and QR-codes that connect the interested reader to the more detailed analysis in the Anatomy. In a condensed variety, this book has kept the holistic approach of the Anatomy and treats the spheres of political, market, and communal action as parts of a single, coherent whole. The endeavor to synthesize a vast range of ideas does not, however, result in a too complicated text. On the contrary, freed from the implicit presumptions of democracy theory, the new terminology yields a readily usable toolkit of unambiguous means of expression to speak about post-communism.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Budapest
Hungary
Target group
Professional and scholarly
File size
3,00 MB
ISBN-13
978-963-386-588-0 (9789633865880)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Balint Magyar | Balint Madlovics
A Concise Field Guide to Post-Communist Regimes
Actors, Institutions, and Dynamics
Book
09/2022
Central European University Press
€78.17
Available (delivery time upon request)
Content
Foreword: A New Paradigm for Understanding Post-Communist Regimes
Oleksandr Fisun
User's guide to the book
I. The Conceptual Framework: 120 Propositions
Trapped in the Language of Liberal Democracy
Dissolving Axiom #1: Stubborn Structures and the Region's Development
Dissolving Axiom #2: Formality and Informality
Dissolving Axiom #3: From Constitutional State to the Mafia State
A Sui Generis Phenomenon: the Adopted Political Family
The Formal Institutional Setting: Changing Patterns of Legitimacy
Legislation and the Legal System: From the Rule of Law to the Law of Rule
Defensive Mechanisms: Stability and Erosion of Democracies and Autocracies
Relational Economics: Corruption, Predation, and the Redistribution of Markets
Market-Exploiting Dictatorship: Coexistence of the Three Economic Mechanisms in China
Clientage Society and the Social Stability of Patronal Autocracy
Populism: an Ideological Instrument for the Political Program of Morally Unconstrained Collective Egoism
Beyond Regime Specificities: Country-, Policy-, and Era-Specific Features
Post-Communist Regime Trajectories: A Triangular Framework
II. Trajectories of Twelve Post-Communist Regimes
Estonia: Regime Change to Liberal Democracy
Romania: Regime Change to Patronal Democracy
Kazakhstan: Regime Change to Patronal Autocracy
China: Model Change to Market-Exploiting Dictatorship
Czech Republic: Backsliding Toward Patronal Democracy
Poland: Backsliding Toward Conservative Autocracy
Hungary: Backsliding to Patronal Autocracy from Liberal Democracy
Russia: Backsliding to Patronal Autocracy from Oligarchic Anarchy
Ukraine: Regime Cycles with Color Revolutions
North Macedonia: Regime Cycle with Intra-Elite Conflict
Moldova: Regime Cycles with Foreign Interference
Georgia: An Attempt to Break the Regime Cycle
Notes
About the Authors
Oleksandr Fisun
User's guide to the book
I. The Conceptual Framework: 120 Propositions
Trapped in the Language of Liberal Democracy
Dissolving Axiom #1: Stubborn Structures and the Region's Development
Dissolving Axiom #2: Formality and Informality
Dissolving Axiom #3: From Constitutional State to the Mafia State
A Sui Generis Phenomenon: the Adopted Political Family
The Formal Institutional Setting: Changing Patterns of Legitimacy
Legislation and the Legal System: From the Rule of Law to the Law of Rule
Defensive Mechanisms: Stability and Erosion of Democracies and Autocracies
Relational Economics: Corruption, Predation, and the Redistribution of Markets
Market-Exploiting Dictatorship: Coexistence of the Three Economic Mechanisms in China
Clientage Society and the Social Stability of Patronal Autocracy
Populism: an Ideological Instrument for the Political Program of Morally Unconstrained Collective Egoism
Beyond Regime Specificities: Country-, Policy-, and Era-Specific Features
Post-Communist Regime Trajectories: A Triangular Framework
II. Trajectories of Twelve Post-Communist Regimes
Estonia: Regime Change to Liberal Democracy
Romania: Regime Change to Patronal Democracy
Kazakhstan: Regime Change to Patronal Autocracy
China: Model Change to Market-Exploiting Dictatorship
Czech Republic: Backsliding Toward Patronal Democracy
Poland: Backsliding Toward Conservative Autocracy
Hungary: Backsliding to Patronal Autocracy from Liberal Democracy
Russia: Backsliding to Patronal Autocracy from Oligarchic Anarchy
Ukraine: Regime Cycles with Color Revolutions
North Macedonia: Regime Cycle with Intra-Elite Conflict
Moldova: Regime Cycles with Foreign Interference
Georgia: An Attempt to Break the Regime Cycle
Notes
About the Authors
