Varieties of Capitalist Democracy: What Difference Does East-Central Europe Make?

2004 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 259-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
IAIN McMENAMIN

The establishment of capitalist democracies in East-Central Europe raises the question of whether existing accounts of varieties of capitalist democracy need to be revised. This article provides a systematic quantitative comparison of varieties of capitalist democracy in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland with 19 other OECD countries. It finds that the East-Central European cases constitute a distinctive cluster; that they have much in common with Greece, Iberia and Ireland and that they are closer to the continental European than the liberal variety of capitalist democracy. These results have important implications for the internal politics of the European Union, prospects of an East-Central European repeat of the relative success of Ireland and the Mediterranean in the European Union, and debates about the influence of neo-liberalism on public policy.

Author(s):  
Lisa H. Anders ◽  
Astrid Lorenz

Abstract This opening chapter introduces the subject matter and objectives of the book. It first explains central terms and provides an overview of the different illiberal trends in Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It then sketches recent conflicts between EU actors and the four East Central European states and explains why these conflicts are of a new quality. Next, it summarises the state of research on illiberal backsliding and on the EU’s tools against it and identifies shortcomings and gaps in the literature. Finally, it outlines the aims as well as the overall structure of the book and provides an overview of the contributions.


Author(s):  
Jacek Wieclawski

This article discusses the problems of the sub-regional cooperation in East-Central Europe. It formulates the general conclusions and examines the specific case of the Visegrad Group as the most advanced example of this cooperation. The article identifies the integrating and disintegrating tendencies that have so far accompanied the sub-regional dialogue in East-Central Europe. Yet it claims that the disintegrating impulses prevail over the integrating impulses. EastCentral Europe remains diversified and it has not developed a single platform of the sub-regional dialogue. The common experience of the communist period gives way to the growing difference of the sub-regional interests and the ability of the East-Central European members to coordinate their positions in the European Union is limited. The Visegrad Group is no exception in this regard despite its rich agenda of social and cultural contacts. The Russian-Ukrainian conflict confirms a deep divergence of interests among the Visegrad states that seems more important for the future of the Visegrad cooperation than the recent attempts to mark the Visegrad unity in the European refugee crisis. Finally, the Ukrainian crisis and the strengthening of the NATO’s “Eastern flank” may contribute to some new ideas of the sub-regional cooperation in East-Central Europe, to include the Polish-Baltic rapprochement or the closer dialogue between Poland and Romania. Full text available at: https://doi.org/10.22215/rera.v10i1.251  


2006 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 219-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Conor O’Dwyer

In recent years, a number of East Central European (ECE) governments have undertaken to radically alter the territorial structures of their public administration. Some have suggested that this development represents the growing Europeanization of ECE politics, in particular the role of the European Union. This article questions that view by examining the crucial role of domestic party politics in the enactment and implementation of regional governance reform. It does so through a close comparison of Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia.


2012 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacques Rupnik ◽  
Jan Zielonka

The countries of East-Central Europe (ECE) embarked on a democratic transition in 1989 were proclaimed consolidated democracies when they joined the European Union (EU) in 2004. Today most of the new democracies are experiencing “democratic fatigue” and some seem vulnerable to an authoritarian turn. The EU, seen as the guarantor of the post-1989 democratic changes, is experiencing an unprecedented economic, financial, and democratic crisis with the combined challenges of technocracy and populism. The article explores the different approaches to the study of democracies in ECE, their specific features and vulnerabilities, and tries to provide an interpretation of the premature crisis of democracy in ECE in a broader transeuropean context.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 97-112
Author(s):  
Ágnes Orosz

The paper contributes to the welfare state regime literature by assessing the existence of the East-Central European welfare state regime. The article empirically tests whether East-Central European countries constitute a distinct welfare regime or they can be classified into existing regimes by using hierarchical cluster analysis. The paper defines clusters for two distinct time periods, in order to shed light on the changes over time. The research provides two substantive contributions. First, welfare states in East-Central Europe constitute a distinct welfare state regime only for the period of 2014-2016, and they might be subdivided into two groups: (1) Visegrad countries and (2) Balkan and Baltic countries together. Second, countries within the East-Central European welfare regime has become more similar over time.


2021 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-25
Author(s):  
Joanna Dyduch

Israel’s policy toward the region of East-Central Europe (ECE) started changing notably from 2004 onward, in response to the European Union (EU) enlargement process. The following years brought a further development of Israel’s position toward the region and substantial changes in Israel’s European policy. This article aims to track this evolution: not only Israel’s position but also the shape as well as the content of bilateral and multilateral relations between Israel and selected ECE states. For the purpose of this analysis, special attention is paid to Israel’s relations with Poland and Hungary, with primary focus on Israel’s approaches and policy orientations. The article argues that while the ideological changes that occurred almost simultaneously in Poland, Israel, and Hungary at first created favorable conditions for the strengthening of bilateral and multilateral relations between all three countries, they soon became a divisive factor and obstacles to cooperation.


2012 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-101
Author(s):  
Victor Neumann

This article explores the controversial issue of concepts defining the East-Central European Romanian and Hungarian identities (nem, neam, popor, nép). It specifically focuses on the translation and adaptation of the German concept of nation by examining the inclusive or exclusive meanings this concept acquired in these two languages and political cultures during the first half of the nineteenth century.


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