General

Democracy is not just a matter of constitutions, parliaments, elections, parties and the rule of law. In order to see if or how democracy works, we must attend to what people make of it, and what they think they are doing as they engage with politics, or...

For a decade Russia has been dismantling communism and building capitalism. Describing a deeply flawed fledgling market economy, Capitalism Russian-Style provides a progress report on one of the most important economic experiments going on in the world...

This book examines how national and ethnic identities are being reforged in the post-Soviet borderland states. The first chapter provides a conceptual and theoretical context for examining national identities, drawing in particular upon post-colonial...

The political systems that have replaced communist rule in East-Central Europe and Eurasia are closely associated with their presidents. The first democratically-elected presidents of these countries - men like Yeltsin, Havel and Waesa - have frequently...

In this book, first published in 1996, Rudolf Toekes offers a comprehensive overview of the rise and fall of the Kadar regime in Hungary between 1957 and 1990. The approach is interdisciplinary, reviewing the regime's record with emphasis on politics,...

In this book, first published in 1997, Kazimierz Z. Poznanski offers an integrated study of institutional change in the Polish economy since 1971. He examines the economic peak of the communist phase, the decline of the system, and the post-communist...

Edited by two of the world's leading analysts of postcommunist politics, this 1997 book brings together distinguished specialists on the former communist countries of Russia and the Western Newly Independent States. Chapters on Belarus, Moldova, and...

This book traces the origins of the insurgency that has wracked the Indian-controlled portion (about two-thirds) of Jammu and Kashmir since 1989. The most complete, and the first theoretically grounded account, it is based on extensive interviews...

Saudi Arabia, homeland of Osama bin Laden and many 9/11 hijackers, is widely considered to be the heartland of radical Islamism. For decades, the conservative and oil-rich kingdom contributed recruits, ideologues and money to jihadi groups worldwide. Yet...

The complex interrelationship between Russia and Ukraine is arguably the most important single factor in determining the future politics of the Eurasian region. In this book Andrew Wilson examines the phenomenon of Ukrainian nationalism and its influence...

In this book Mary McAuley explores the political reactions of elites and society in the Russian Federation in the years following the collapse of communist party rule and the break-up of the USSR. Spanning two republics and four regions, the book offered...

The authors of this book have developed a new and stimulating approach to the analysis of the transitions of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia to democracy and a market economy. They integrate interdisciplinary theoretical work with...

The old order of stable political alignments within and between the Soviet republics and their nationalities disintegrated with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Russia and the fourteen new states on its borders must now deal with a new and unpredictable...

Soviet Workers and and the Collapse of Perestroika is a comprehensive analysis of the role of labour policy in the development and ultimate collapse of Mikhail Gorbachev's reforms. Drawing on a wide range of sources, Filtzer argues that initially...

Reforming the Russian Legal System is a comprehensive analysis of the forces that are shaping legal reform in the republics of the former USSR. Looking beneath the flow of day-to-day developments, the book examines how traditional indigenous Russian...

The late twentieth century witnessed remarkable changes in Soviet domestic and foreign policy. Eastern Europe sprang free of the country that held it in its grip for over forty years. The Soviet leadership has accepted the reunification of Germany and...

This book was first published in 1992. For decades Yugoslavia had been developing its own model of socialism based on workers' self-management and the increasing use of the market mechanism. As a result, many scholars view the Yugoslav economy...

How do Soviet politicians rise to power? How are national and regional regimes formed? How are conflicting political interests brought together as policies are developed in the Soviet Union? In Patronage and Politics in the USSR, first published in 1991,...

This volume brings together empirical and analytical studies of the nature and evolution of Soviet-British relations during the 1980s. The relationship is placed within the wider context of Soviet policy towards the West and NATO and the pivotal security...

The German Democratic Republic's emergence as the key political player within the Warsaw Pact intensified debates concerning the critical East German military role in Soviet strategy for the future of Eastern Europe. Douglas Macgregor traces the origins...

This 1989 book deals with the changing position and role of the Polish United Workers' Party and its apparatus between 1975 and 1986. Particular attention is paid to the provincial party organisation and to the party secretaries who direct its activities...

This book examines the process of dismantling the democratic institutions and protections in Venezuela under the Hugo Chavez regime. The actions of the Chavez government have influenced similar processes and undemocratic manoeuvrings in Ecuador, Bolivia,...

This 1972 work explains how Mapai governed Israel from 1948 to 1969 when it gave up its independent identity to become a major partner to the newly formed Israeli Labour Party. It analyses how Mapai's dominant role in Israeli society was built up before...

This book examines the process of dismantling the democratic institutions and protections in Venezuela under the Hugo Chavez regime. The actions of the Chavez government have influenced similar processes and undemocratic manoeuvrings in Ecuador, Bolivia,...

This book was first published in 1992. For decades Yugoslavia had been developing its own model of socialism based on workers' self-management and the increasing use of the market mechanism. As a result, many scholars view the Yugoslav economy...

In this original, bottom-up account of the evolution of contemporary Russia, Alena Ledeneva seeks to reveal how informal power operates. Concentrating on Vladimir Putin's system of governance - referred to as sistema - she identifies four key types of...

This volume brings together empirical and analytical studies of the nature and evolution of Soviet-British relations during the 1980s. The relationship is placed within the wider context of Soviet policy towards the West and NATO and the pivotal security...

Over three decades after the Iranian Revolution reconfigured the strategic landscape in the Middle East, scholars are still trying to decipher its aftereffects. Suzanne Maloney provides the first comprehensive overview of Iran's political economy since...

In this 1990 book Gareth Winrow provides a comprehensive account in English of East German foreign policy towards Africa since the early 1950s. He challenges the view of the GDR's role in Africa as solely that of a proxy for the Soviet Union. Instead, as...

Why modern China has been unable to institutionalize democracy is a long-standing topic of debate and the ultimate subject of this book. The greatest momentum for democracy, Edmund Fung contends, emerged between 1929 and 1949 with civil opposition to the...

This study provides a comprehensive examination of the evolution of Islam as a ruling framework in postrevolutionary Iran up to the present day. Beginning with the position and structure of Iran's clerical establishment under the Islamic Republic,...

Politics of the North Korean Diaspora examines how authoritarian security concerns shape global diaspora politics. Empirically, it traces the recent emergence of a North Korean diaspora - a globally-dispersed population of North Korean emigres - and...

Once viewed as an environmental hazard to the planet, East Asia is now at the forefront of pro-environmental policymaking. The region's progress has been both remarkable and surprising given the pro-business orientation of its political systems and their...

Political selection is about how individuals are selected to political office - and this substantially determines the quality of governance. The evidence favors democratic elections as the selection institution that produces high governance quality. Yet...

Myanmar: A Political Lexicon is a critical inquiry into how words animate politics. Across sixteen entries the lexicon stages dialogues about political speech and action in this country at the nexus of South, East and Southeast Asia. This Element offers...

Throughout history, dictators have constructed secret police agencies to neutralize rivals and enforce social order. But the same agencies can become disloyal and threatening. This book explores how eight communist regimes in Cold War Europe confronted...

Dialogue with the Dictator illuminates the ways in which authoritarian regimes structure interaction between citizens and leaders to simultaneously manage information dilemmas and build regime legitimacy. In doing so, it demonstrates the conditions under...

Benjamin Netanyahu has carefully cultivated a self-image as Israel's 'Mr. Security' during his decades of political activity. His reputation as a security-minded leader has resonated with large swathes of the Israeli public, enabling him to become...

Since 2011, the conflict in Syria has been one of the most catastrophic conflicts of our time and a dark stain on the peacemaking abilities of the United Nations (UN). At the heart of this book is a simple but critical question – what do UN mediators...

This Element traces the history of and recent developments in the unstable relationship between global civil society (GCS) and China. It analyses the normative impacts GCS has had on China – including the Chinese state and domestic civil society – and...