Historical legacies and the size of the red-brown vote in post-communist politics

2009 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 485-504 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Ishiyama
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Communist Regime ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Extreme Right ◽  
East Central Europe ◽  
East Central ◽  
Historical Legacies

In this paper I examine the relatively under-investigated topic of how historical legacies shaped the emergence of the “Red-brown” political tendency in East-Central Europe and the former Soviet Union e which is sometimes referred to as “National Bolshevism” or “National Communism” or “Strasserism.” More specifically I ask the question, how do historical legacies help explain why extreme right wing voters support the successors to the formerly dominant communist parties (or what I refer to as the “red-brown” vote)? I find that the most important legacy variable that affects the red brown phenomenon is the legacy of the previous communist regime.

scholarly journals Contradictions on the Road to Democracy and the Market in East Central Europe

1992 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 3-25
Author(s):  
Robin A. Remington
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
International Political Economy ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
East Central Europe ◽  
East Central ◽  
The Road ◽  
On The Road

This analysis focuses on the dilemmas facing policymakers attempting the transition from one-party hegemonic systems to multiparty democracies in post-communist Europe. It investigates the hypothesis that the political conditions for building democracy and the economic conditions required for establishing market economies in these societies are at cross purposes. The author examines the role of the international political economy in the process of democratization in terms of a framework of three primary variables: identity, legitimacy, and security. In applying these variables to post-communist East Central Europe, five significant arenas emerge in which political and economic imperatives come into conflict. The analysis concludes with policy implications for Western decision-makers whose own future security needs and economic well-being are tied to successful transition from communism to viable democracy in East Central Europe and the former Soviet Union.

scholarly journals Introduction: Nationality/Ethnic Settlement Patterns and Political Behavior in East Central Europe

1996 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 377-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Z. Jokay
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
Political Behavior ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Settlement Patterns ◽  
East Central Europe ◽  
East Central ◽  
Western Border ◽  
The Russian Federation

Western experts claim that the end of the Warsaw Pact and the artificial stability it provided, together with what are routinely called “traditional ethnic animosities,” are the causes of continual and inevitable clashes between states in East Central Europe. This area, a triangle formed by the Adriatic, Baltic, and Black Seas, covers the Western border area of the former Soviet Union, and all of Poland, ex-Yugoslavia, Hungary, Romania, ex-Czechoslovakia and the eastern territories of Germany. This issue of Nationalities Papers is dedicated to the Hungarian ethnic minorities of East Central Europe, in part to examine the validity of the “traditional ethnic animosity” thesis. Spread among seven states, roughly three and a half to four million souls, they constitute the largest diaspora in Europe, and, in relative terms, are more numerous in states around Hungary than the ethnic Russians outside of the Russian Federation on the territory of the former Soviet Union.

A Few Unresolved Mysteries about Stalin and the Cold War in Europe: A Modest Agenda for Research

1999 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-116
Author(s):  
Adam B. Ulam
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
East Central Europe ◽  
East Central ◽  
Soviet Policy ◽  
Key Aspects ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Gradual Release

Despite the gradual release of once-classified documents in the former Soviet Union, numerous questions and problems about Stalin's role in the Cold War remain. Some tantalizing clues about Stalin's ambitions and motivations have emerged, but several key aspects of Soviet policy in East-Central Europe in the late 1940s and early 1950s seem just as puzzling as they did before the archives were opened. The further declassification of materials may shed new light on these mysteries, enabling scholars to develop a better understanding of the first decade of the Cold War.

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