书名: Communism and the Emergence of Democracy
作者: Harald Wydra (Author)
出版社: Cambridge University Press (March 5, 2007)
语言: English
ISBN-10: 0521851696
ISBN-13: 978-0521851695
Book Description
Before democracy becomes an institutionalized form of political authority, the rupture with authoritarian forms of power causes deep uncertainty about power and outcomes. This book connects the study of democratization in eastern Europe and Russia to the emergence and crisis of communism. Wydra argues that the communist past is not simply a legacy but needs to be seen as a social organism in gestation, where critical events produce new expectations, memories, and symbols that influence meanings of democracy. By examining a series of pivotal historical events, he shows that democratization is not just a matter of institutional design, but rather a matter of consciousness and leadership under conditions of extreme and traumatic incivility. Rather than adopting the opposition between non-democratic and democratic, Wydra argues that the communist experience must be central to the study of the emergence and nature of democracy in (post-) communist countries.
Review
"This book is a compelling meditation on democracy set concretely in the history of European communism and its transformation. Placing culture, people and action at center stage, Harald Wydra's analysis is interpretive, scholarly and intelligent." -- Michael Urban, Professor of Politics, University of Kansas
About the Author
Harald Wydra is University Lecturer in the Department of Politics at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of St Catharine's College. He is the author of Continuities in Poland's Permanent Transition (2001).
[thread=11954]论坛相关讨论主题[/thread]
作者: Harald Wydra (Author)
出版社: Cambridge University Press (March 5, 2007)
语言: English
ISBN-10: 0521851696
ISBN-13: 978-0521851695
Book Description
Before democracy becomes an institutionalized form of political authority, the rupture with authoritarian forms of power causes deep uncertainty about power and outcomes. This book connects the study of democratization in eastern Europe and Russia to the emergence and crisis of communism. Wydra argues that the communist past is not simply a legacy but needs to be seen as a social organism in gestation, where critical events produce new expectations, memories, and symbols that influence meanings of democracy. By examining a series of pivotal historical events, he shows that democratization is not just a matter of institutional design, but rather a matter of consciousness and leadership under conditions of extreme and traumatic incivility. Rather than adopting the opposition between non-democratic and democratic, Wydra argues that the communist experience must be central to the study of the emergence and nature of democracy in (post-) communist countries.
Review
"This book is a compelling meditation on democracy set concretely in the history of European communism and its transformation. Placing culture, people and action at center stage, Harald Wydra's analysis is interpretive, scholarly and intelligent." -- Michael Urban, Professor of Politics, University of Kansas
About the Author
Harald Wydra is University Lecturer in the Department of Politics at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of St Catharine's College. He is the author of Continuities in Poland's Permanent Transition (2001).
[thread=11954]论坛相关讨论主题[/thread]