This wide-ranging overview of the processes of democratization in post-Communist Europe, places the transitions of East-Central Europe within a broad European and global context. The authors introduce the concept and theories of democracy, and then analyze the emerging politics of the new democracies to set the post-Communist transitions in longer-term comparative perspective.

PART ONE: THEORETICAL AND HISTORICAL BACKGROUNDS FOR DEMOCRATIZATION The Democracy Project and the Development of Comparative Politics Historical Legacies of Regional Democratization PART TWO: THE EMERGING POLITICS OF THE NEW DEMOCRACIES Conceptualizations of Transition Early Dichotomies and Evolving Complexities Civil Society Using the New Freedoms Concepts of Economic Restructuring Interest Group Articulation in Post-Communism Political Party Formation and Electoral Competition Elites and Citizens Elite Democracy and Citizen Participation PART THREE: REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL CONTEXTS OF DEMOCRATIZATION Regional Comparisons of Democratization Southern Europe - Lessons from Another European Region Structuring Executive Power in Emerging Democracies Warnings from Latin America Economics First, Then (Maybe) Politics The Challenge of the East Asian Model East-Central Europe, the EU and Globalizing Capitalism What Kind of Democratization, What Kind of Democracy?

`This is a broad-ranging survey. It goes well beyond its briefof democratization in these societies or, at least, it interprets this particular brief very widely, so that a range of economic and social changes are also brought into consideration. The series of international and inter-regional comparisons also give the book breadth. The opening sections on comparitive approaches and the historical background will make the book more accessible to the uninitiated reader.... It would serve as a useful introduction to understanding recent political change in the region′ - Democratization