Democracy in the Post-Communist World: An Unending Quest?

Written by Grzegorz Ekiert, Jan Kubik and Milada Anna Vachudova, this article apperead on the first issue of Vol. 21 of East European Politics & Societies in February 2007. 
 
Fifteen years after regime change swept across the former Soviet bloc and contrary to the widely held hopes and expectations at that time, liberal democracy has emerged and taken root only in a small number of post-communist countries. In the majority of former communist states, political transformations have either lost their momentum and resulted in partially democratic systems or have been reversed and brought new authoritarian regimes. Hence, the fundamental puzzle of post-communist politics: why have some countries succeeded and others failed, totally or partially, in building and consolidating liberal democracy?