Postsocialist Pathways: Transforming Politics and Property in East Central Europe

by David Stark, Laszlo Bruszt

Overview

Is there a distinctly East European capitalism? This volume analyzes democratization and economic change in the postsocialist societies of East Central Europe. It demonstrates that the collapse of communism was not the same across the region and that the differences in how the pieces fell shaped the building blocks used for reconstructing political systems and restructuring economies in the region. Among the key concepts are the importance of social networks in the economies and of deliberative institutions in the polity that include the interests of subordinate groups in policymaking.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521580359
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	02/28/1998
Series:	Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics
Pages:	298
Product dimensions:	5.98(w) x 9.02(h) x 0.67(d)

Table of Contents

Part I. Extrication: 1. Remaking the political field: strategic interactions and contingent choices; Part II. Transformations: 2. The privatization debate: from plan to market or from plan to clan?; 3. Path dependence and privatization strategies; Part III. Deliberative Association: 4. Markets, states, and deliberative associations; 5. Restructuring networks in East European capitalism; 6. Enabling constraints: institutional sources of policy coherence; 7. Extended accountability; Bibliography.

What People are Saying About This

Janos Kornai

Originality, intellectual innovation, inspiration derived from sharp observation, and courageous theoretical generalizations—these are rare qualities in transition economics, and characteristic of Stark and Bruszt's book. Some of their propositions are certainly controversial, but that also helps to make Postsocialist Pathways exciting and thought-provoking reading.

Editorial Reviews

"This book is a huge breath of fresh air. Stark and Bruszt defy many conventional understandings about the transition processes and their societal consequences in Central Europe, undertake careful and innovative research, and come up with solid conclusions about the unique shape that these countries are acquiring. This, in turn, provides the basis for truly comparative work, one that benefits students of this and other regions: gaining detailed knowledge of the specificities of each set of cases and deriving from them rich theoretical implications. This is an important and original book, of great value for anyone interested in the present and future trends of newly democratized countries." Guillermo O'Donnell, University of Notre Dame

"Originality, intellectual innovation, inspiration derived from sharp observation, and courageous theoretical generalizations—these are rare qualities in transition economics, and characteristic of Stark and Bruszt's book. Some of their propositions are certainly controversial, but that also helps to make Postsocialist Pathways exciting and thought-provoking reading." Janos Kornai, Harvard University and Collegium Budapest

"Stark and Bruszt have opened the 'black box' on privatization in EasternEurope — and they have discovered circuitry that differs radically from one country to another. Moreover, these emerging patterns of public/privateownership, control and collusion have serious implications for such things as economic growth, international competitiveness, Euro-compatibility, the role of foreign capital, the legitimacy of capitalism itself — even the type and quality of democracy." Philippe C. Schmitter, European University Institute

"Postsocialist Pathways is suitable for research collections covering economic reforms in Central Europe." Choice

From the Publisher