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While the literature of hybrid regimes has given up the presumption
that post-communist countries must democratize, its language and
concepts still mostly relate to Western democracies. Magyar and
Madlovics strongly argue for a vocabulary and grammar tailored to
the specifics of the region. In 120 theses they unfold a conceptual
framework with (1) a typology of post-communist regimes and (2) a
detailed presentation of ideal-type actors and the political,
economic, and social phenomena in these regimes. The book is a more
digestible companion to the 800-page The Anatomy of Post-Communist
Regimes (CEU Press, 2020), which was a detailed theoretical study
with plenty of empirical illustrations. Each of the 120 theses
contains a statement and its concise discussion supported by
illustrative tables, figures, and QR-codes that connect the
interested reader to the more detailed analysis in the Anatomy. In
a condensed variety, this book has kept the holistic approach of
the Anatomy and treats the spheres of political, market, and
communal action as parts of a single, coherent whole. The endeavor
to synthesize a vast range of ideas does not, however, result in a
too complicated text. On the contrary, freed from the implicit
presumptions of democracy theory, the new terminology yields a
readily usable toolkit of unambiguous means of expression to speak
about post-communism.
Offering a single, coherent framework of the political, economic,
and social phenomena that characterize post-communist regimes, this
is the most comprehensive work on the subject to date. Focusing on
Central Europe, the post-Soviet countries and China, the study
provides a systematic mapping of possible post-communist
trajectories. At exploring the structural foundations of
post-communist regime development, the work discusses the types of
state, with an emphasis on informality and patronalism; the variety
of actors in the political, economic, and communal spheres; the
ways autocrats neutralize media, elections, etc. The analysis
embraces the color revolutions of civil resistance (as in Georgia
and in Ukraine) and the defensive mechanisms of democracy and
autocracy; the evolution of corruption and the workings of
"relational economy"; an analysis of China as "market-exploiting
dictatorship"; the sociology of "clientage society"; and the
instrumental use of ideology, with an emphasis on populism. Beyond
a cataloguing of phenomena-actors, institutions, and dynamics of
post-communist democracies, autocracies, and dictatorships-Magyar
and Madlovics also conceptualize everything as building blocks to a
larger, coherent structure: a new language for post-communist
regimes. While being the most definitive book on the topic, the
book is nevertheless written in an accessible style suitable for
both beginners who wish to understand the logic of post-communism
and scholars who are interested in original contributions to
comparative regime theory. The book is equipped with QR codes that
link to www.postcommunistregimes.com, which contains interactive,
3D supplementary material for teaching.
The editor of this book has brought together contributions designed
to capture the essence of post-communist politics in East-Central
Europe and Eurasia. Rather than on the surface structures of
nominal democracies, the nineteen essays focus on the informal,
often intentionally hidden, disguised and illicit understandings
and arrangements that penetrate formal institutions. These
phenomena often escape even the best-trained outside observers,
familiar with the concepts of established democracies. Contributors
to this book share the view that understanding post-communist
politics is best served by a framework that builds from the ground
up, proceeding from a fundamental social context. The book aims at
facilitating a lexical convergence; in the absence of a robust
vocabulary for describing and discussing these often highly complex
informal phenomena, the authors wish to advance a new terminology
of post-communist regimes. Instead of a finite dictionary, a kind
of conceptual cornucopia is offered. The resulting variety reflects
a larger harmony of purpose that can significantly expand the
understanding the "real politics" of post-communist regimes.
Countries analyzed from a variety of aspects, comparatively or as
single case studies, include Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Hungary,
Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Poland, Russia, and Ukraine.
Offering a single, coherent framework of the political, economic,
and social phenomena that characterize post-communist regimes, this
is the most comprehensive work on the subject to date. Focusing on
Central Europe, the post-Soviet countries and China, the study
provides a systematic mapping of possible post-communist
trajectories. At exploring the structural foundations of
post-communist regime development, the work discusses the types of
state, with an emphasis on informality and patronalism; the variety
of actors in the political, economic, and communal spheres; the
ways autocrats neutralize media, elections, etc. The analysis
embraces the color revolutions of civil resistance (as in Georgia
and in Ukraine) and the defensive mechanisms of democracy and
autocracy; the evolution of corruption and the workings of
"relational economy"; an analysis of China as "market-exploiting
dictatorship"; the sociology of "clientage society"; and the
instrumental use of ideology, with an emphasis on populism. Beyond
a cataloguing of phenomena-actors, institutions, and dynamics of
post-communist democracies, autocracies, and dictatorships-Magyar
and Madlovics also conceptualize everything as building blocks to a
larger, coherent structure: a new language for post-communist
regimes. While being the most definitive book on the topic, the
book is nevertheless written in an accessible style suitable for
both beginners who wish to understand the logic of post-communism
and scholars who are interested in original contributions to
comparative regime theory. The book is equipped with QR codes that
link to www.postcommunistregimes.com, which contains interactive,
3D supplementary material for teaching.
The twenty-four essays accompany, illustrate and underpin the
conceptual framework elaborated in Post-Communist Mafia State,
published in conjunction with this volume. Leading specialists
analyze the manifestations of the current political regime in
Hungary from twenty-four angles. Topics discussed include the
ideology, constitutional issues, social policy, the judiciary,
foreign relations, nationalism, media, memory politics, corruption,
civil society, education, culture and so on. Beyond the basic
features of the economy the domains of taxation, banking system,
energy policies and the agriculture are treated in dedicated
studies. The essays are based on detailed empirical investigation
about conditions in today's Hungary. They nevertheless contribute
to the exploration of the characteristic features of post-communist
authoritarian regimes, shared by an increasing number of countries
in Europe and Central Asia.
In an article in 2001 the author analyzed the way the Hungarian
political party Fidesz (the Federation of Young Democrats) was
eliminating the institutional system of the rule of law as it was
on government for the first time. At that time, many readers
doubted the legitimacy of the new approach, in which the author
characterized the system as the 'organized over-world', the 'state
employing mafia methods' and the 'adopted political family'.
Critics considered these categories metaphors rather than elements
of a coherent conceptual framework. Ten years later Fidesz won a
two-third majority in Parliament at the 2010 elections, removing
many of the institutional obstacles of exerting power. Just like
the party, the state itself was placed under the control of a
single individual, who since then has applied the techniques used
within his party to enforce submission and obedience onto society
as a whole. It is common in many post-communist systems that a
segment of the party and secret service became the elite in
possession of not only political power but also of wealth. However,
Fidesz, as a late-coming new political predator, was able to occupy
this position through a change of elite. The actions of the
post-communist mafia state model are closely aligned with the
interests of power and wealth concentrated in the hands of a small
group of insiders. While the traditional mafia channeled wealth and
economic players into its spheres of influence by means of direct
coercion, the mafia state does the same by means of parliamentary
legislation, legal prosecution, tax authority, police forces and
secret service. The innovative conceptual framework of the book is
important and timely not only for Hungary, but also for other
post-communist countries subjected to autocratic rules.
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