West-East Integration: Lessons from East Germany's Accelerated Transition
West-East Integration: Lessons from East Germany's Accelerated Transition

Summary/Abstract: Ten years after the removal of the centralizing and homogenizing yoke of Soviet-backed communism, what strikes the observer of Eastern Europe is the diversity of transition outcomes. Inevitably, these outcomes are measured in terms of how closely they adhere to West European (and to some extent, North American) standards of liberal democracy (e.g., competitive elections, multiparty systems, parliamentary democracy, judicial independence, and development of a civic culture). One case has been held more closely to those standards than others: the former German Democratic Republic (GDR). Yet, postcommunist studies have largely ignored the outcomes in this very instructive case. [...]

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