Institutional Design in Post-Communist Societies: Rebuilding the Ship at Sea

by Jon Elster, Claus Offe, Ulrich K. Preuss

Overview

This book examines the problems and issues facing formerly communist states as they seek to develop a new democratic political order and a market economy. Studies of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia provide detailed empirical data concerning constitution making, the shaping of democratic institutions, marketization of the economy, and social policy. This new research is then linked to innovative theoretical material to offer a unique assessment of the difficulties of creating a new political order in the region.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521473866
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	03/13/1998
Series:	Theories of Institutional Design
Pages:	364
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.94(d)

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: agenda, agency, and aims of Central East European transitions; 2. Mapping Eastern Europe; 3. Constitutional politics in Eastern Europe; 4. Building and consolidating democracies; 5. Building capitalism in Eastern Europe; 6. Social policy transformation; 7. Consolidation and the cleavages of ideology and identity; 8. Conclusion: the unfinished project.

Editorial Reviews

"New, interesting material." Comparative Politics

"...a praiseworthy effort....Graduate level and above." Choice

"...the substantive chapters are well crafted, detailed, and informative about such matters as the writing of constitutions, the working of electoral systems, the privatization of the economy, and the restructuring of the welfare states." Andrew C. Janos, Slavic Review

From the Publisher