Elite Change After Communism: Eastern Germany, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia
Elite Change After Communism: Eastern Germany, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia
Author(s): Thomas A. BaylisSubject(s): Political history, Government/Political systems, Transformation Period (1990 - 2010), Post-Communist Transformation
Published by: SAGE Publications Ltd
Keywords: Political history; Eastern Germany; Czech Republic; Slovakia; political elites; postcommunist transformation; post-revolutionary transformation;
Summary/Abstract: The experience of East Central European governments since the peaceful upheavals of 1989 appears to confirm the much older insight that the elites who lead revolutions often fail to retain power long enough to manage the post-revolutionary transformation of their societies. The elites who succeed them tend to be quite different in character and, if they do not reverse the agenda of the original elites, may well alter or distort it. The most striking examples of post-revolutionary elite change in East Central Europe have occurred in countries like Poland and Hungary, where members of the disgraced former ruling parties returned to lead government coalitions following the electoral repudiation of their anticommunist predecessors. [...]
Journal: East European Politics and Societies
- Issue Year: 12/1998
- Issue No: 02
- Page Range: 265-299
- Page Count: 35
- Language: English
- Content File-PDF