Communism and the Emergence of Democracy [Paperback]

This book connects the study of democratisation to the emergence and crisis of communism.Harald Wydra argues that much of the literature on the democratisation of former communist countries has neglected the history of communism in its analysis of transformation processes. He suggests that the nature of post-communist democracy cannot be properly understood without reference to the emergence and crisis of communism.Harald Wydra argues that much of the literature on the democratisation of former communist countries has neglected the history of communism in its analysis of transformation processes. He suggests that the nature of post-communist democracy cannot be properly understood without reference to the emergence and crisis of communism.Before democracy becomes an institutionalized form of political authority, the rupture with authoritarian forms of power causes deep uncertainty about power and outcomes. This book connects the study of democratization in eastern Europe and Russia to the emergence and crisis of communism. Wydra argues that the communist past is not simply a legacy but needs to be seen as a social organism in gestation, where critical events produce new expectations, memories, and symbols that influence meanings of democracy. By examining a series of pivotal historical events, he shows that democratization is not just a matter of institutional design, but rather a matter of consciousness and leadership under conditions of extreme and traumatic incivility. Rather than adopting the opposition between non-democratic and democratic, Wydra argues that the communist experience must be central to the study of the emergence and nature of democracy in (post-) communist countries.1. Communism and democracy - a problematisation; Part I. The Experiential Basis of Communism and Democracy: 2. Revolutions, transitions, and uncertainty; 3. The political symbolism of communism; 4. Experiencing democratic transformations; Part II. Critical Events and their Symbolisatl#.