The year 2011 marks the twentieth anniversary of the end of the
Soviet Union. This may be an appropriate time to evaluate the
adoption by previously state socialist societies of other economic
and political models. The transition has sometimes been described
in positive terms, as a movement to free societies with open
markets and democratic elections. Others have argued that the
transition has created weak, poverty-stricken states with
undeveloped civil societies ruled by unresponsive political elites.
Which is the more accurate assessment? David Lane examines a few of
the theoretical approaches that help explain the trajectory of
change from socialism to capitalism. He focuses on two main
approaches in this volume--elite theories and social class.
Theories dwelling on the role of elites regard the transformation
from socialism to capitalism as a type of system transfer in which
elites craft democratic and market institutions into the space left
by state socialism. Lane contrasts this interpretation with
class-based theories, which consider transformation in terms of
revolution, and explain why such theories have not been considered
the best way of framing the transition in the post-socialist
states.
While recognizing that elites can play important roles and have
the capacity to transform societies, Lane contends that elite
theories alone are inadequate to explain a system change that
brings free markets. In contrast, he proposes a class approach in
which two groups characterize state socialism: an administrative
class and an acquisition class.
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