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Relevance of the Transitional Model in the Postcommunist Context
Pero MALDINI
Sažetak
The starting point of this article is the assumption that the
transitional model did not succeed as a coherent theory and
that it is not able to give a sufficient explanation of
democratic transitions, especially in postcommunist societies.
Analyzing the transitional model's relevance in the
postcommunist context, the author questions its basic
assumptions and identifies key differences between southern
and postcommunist transitions. Whereas the transitional
model ignores structural prerequisites and sociocultural
factors, it is lacking in specific causes and the nature of
changes. Stressing the role of actors and the normative-
-institutional definition of democracy, the meaning and the
content of democracy are reduced to the political level. At
the same time, the extent and depth of changes, which in
postcommunist societies significantly surpass the level of
political change, are neglected. Through the comparison
between southern and postcommunist transitions, it is visible
that there are far more differences mutually hard to compare
than similarities, whose comparison could be useful. The
conclusion is that the transition process in postcommunist
societies is indigenous and significantly more different than
in southern transitions and that the theoretical framework of
the transitional model has proven itself too narrow for its
explanation, which requires a different and much broader
theoretical approach.
Ključne riječi
transitional model; southern transitions; postcommunist transitions; postcommunist societies; democratization
Hrčak ID:
19166
URI
Datum izdavanja:
31.10.2007.
Posjeta: 2.550 *