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The Handbook of Political Change in Eastern Europe
ÔLots has changed in Eastern Europe in the past quarter-century and the new edition of this major study of the region sets out these changes in directions for the better and for the worse.Õ Ð Richard Rose, University of Strathclyde, UK ÔThis Handbook offers a historically informed, systematic account of the political development in Central and Eastern Europe. Two chapters lay out a framework for comparison. 26 specialists provide analyses for 19 countries. In an appendix, each of these country chapters documents election results, government composition, the electoral system, and the constitutional framework. The concluding chapter synthesizes the major results. The Handbook is the most c...
The Left Transformed in Post-Communist Societies
One of the most unexpected outcomes of the Soviet bloc's transition out of communism has been the divergent but important paths followed by once ruling communist parties. In Poland, Hungary, and Lithuania those parties transformed themselves into pro-Western free market center leftists who have won elections and formed governing coalitions periodically since the early 1990s. The result has been former communists leading their countries into NATO and the EU even as their conservative opponents continue to condemn them for their communist past. No less surprising has been the ability of anti-Western neo-Leninist communist parties in Russia and Ukraine to win sizable pluralities of votes in fre...
The Politics of Joking
This book engages anthropologically with humor as political expression. It reveals how humor is in many instances central to human efforts to cope with political struggle and significant to understanding power dynamics in socio-political life. The chapters examine humor and joking activities across a diverse range of geographic areas and cultural contexts. The contributors consider humor as it is constituted in political anxiety, aggression and power, and when it becomes a tool to resist, repair, reconcile or make a moral claim. Collectively they demonstrate that humor can provide a powerful critique, a non-violent form of political protest and the space for restoration of human dignity.
Politics with a Human Face
Politics with a Human Face presents a holistic understanding of identity formation in post-Soviet Europe, arguing that since politics is fundamentally a human affair. In order to adequately understand it, one needs to understand its human side first. Drawing on the thought of Dilthey, Ricoeur and Plato, the author employs empathy as a method, together with visual and historical analysis, to analyse the role of human experience in post-Soviet politics. As a result, the book offers a theoretical approach for assessing influence of the non-rationalistic factors, such as associative symbolism, human experience, political images and historical narratives, in both domestic and foreign affairs. A s...
Baltic Democracy at the Crossroads
Little more than a decade after the fall of communism, the Baltic States and Poland, alongside several other Central European states, have been invited to join the European Union from 2004. The speed of change has been breathtaking, surprising even the most optimistic voices. This volume gives a comprehensive overview of the state of democracy around the eastern Baltic seaboard, highlighting in particular the importance of elites in newly emerging democracies. This is the first first volume to provide in-depth analysis of the rapidly changing political circumstances of the Baltic countries, Poland, and Kaliningrad to a wide audience, covering the transformation from the Soviet-style nomenklatura to competitive elites; changing political behavior; and the links between citizens and elites. In addition, the book covers the interconnections between networks of elites, including local elites. One chapter also analyzes the delicate issue of the detached Russian region of Kaliningrad.
