Democracy and its Alternatives

The collapse of communism has created the opportunity for democracy
to spread from Prague to the Baltic and the Black seas. But the
alternatives - dictatorship or totalitarian rule - are more in
keeping with the traditions of Central and Eastern Europe.

Will people put up with new democracies which are associated
with inflation, unemployment, crime and corruption? Or will they
return to some form of authoritarian regime? Half a century ago,
Winston Churchill predicted that people will accept democracy with
all its faults - because it is better than anything else that has
ever been tried. To find out if Churchill was right, this book
analyses a unique source of evidence about public opinion, the New
Democracies Barometer, covering the Czech Republic, Hungary,
Slovakia, Poland, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania, Belarus and
Ukraine.

The authors find that there is widespread popular support for
democracy compared to communism, dictatorship and military rule.
People who have been denied democratic freedoms value new political
rights more highly. Economic concerns are second in importance. If
democracy fails, it will be because political elites have abused
their power, not because the public does not want democracy.

Looking at post-communist Europe makes us think again about
democracy in countries where it is taken for granted. The abrupt
transition to democracy in post-communist countries is normal;
gradual evolution in the Anglo-American style is the exception to
the rule. Complaints in Western countries about democracy being
less than ideal reflect confidence that there is no alternative.
Post-communist citizens do not have this luxury: they must make the
most of what they have.

This important book makes an important contribution to current
debates about democratization and democratic theory and to the
growing literature on the social and political changes taking place
in post-communist societies. It will be of particular interest to
students and scholars in politics and sociology.