Theoretical Perspectives on Central Europe

Various theoretical perspectives on political developments in postcommunist Central Europe are considered. The paradigms of modernization & democratic theories are found insufficient to explain such phenomena as the renewal of ethnoregional identities typical of the region & sometimes lead to irredentism & secession. It is argued that these phenomena can be better understood in the context of Stein Rokkan's (1975) conceptions of state- & nation-building. Rokkan's theory on the critical junctures in history is tested on the return of the 1991 Polish parliamentary elections. A map of the turnout in these elections is presented, showing the lines of the Third Partition (1795-1919) in contemporary electoral behavior. Other examples of the reintegration of historic regions are presented, & the consequences of this development discussed