Transitions from postcommunism: second transitions, second chances?

"In the years since communism's collapse, several Central and East European countries have embarked on a 'second' transition to extricate themselves from repressive rule by a postcommunist successor regime. In each case, reformers swept into power promising to improve governance and to introduce genuine democratic reforms. Yet second transitions, too, show significant variation in the speed and extent to which they are able to deliver these outcomes. This paper examines why this is the case. The analysis focuses exclusively on democratization in second transitions. It develops and advances the argument that the experience of postcommunist authoritarianism yields unique institutional and behavioral legacies that make the transition from postcommunist authoritarianism qualitatively different and constitute an additional obstacle to democratization in this context. It tests this hypothesis using the cases of Slovakia, Croatia, and Serbia and confirms a correlation between each country's qualitative experience under postcommunist authoritarianism and its reform government's ability to lock in democratic gains." (author's abstract