The Political Economy of Transition in Eurasia

This important collection looks at the progress in democratization and economic liberalization of the twenty-seven post-communist countries of Eurasia with some guarded optimism. Belarus, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are clearly unabashed authoritarian regimes with only sporadic ventures toward political accountability and very limited effort to liberalize economically. Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia have made more substantial moves, particularly on the economic side, but the regimes seem to be undergoing political retrenchment. Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, and the three Baltic States clearly have competitive democracies with effective political institutions and processes and functioning market economies. But, as some of the contributors suggest, there remain some very serious challenges and unmet expectations. It is clear that the "dual transition" of democratization and economic liberalization has been a challenge for all the regimes that have seriously attempted it.