Suchergebnisse

Based on the experience of former rightist & communist dictatorships in Europe regarding different forms of opposition -- both open & hidden within these regimes' structures -- the author analyzes the role of the opposition in the process of the sweeping democratic change that has taken the "new democracies" of Central & Eastern Europe in the direction of the state of law & civil society. His conclusion is that in today's Central European countries, political multiparty pluralism, which includes viable parliamentary opposition, was given a smooth start & has since taken root. However, in the countries with only superficial democracy & an obvious "democratic deficit" -- eg, Croatia (& Slovakia) -- parliamentary opposition plays second fiddle. The prime movers of the change -- & of the democratization as well -- are still the ruling parties (not unlike during the communist single-party regimes). Changes occur only when the ruling party or its majority opt for them, considering them the lesser of two evils, either because they are no longer satisfied with the distribution of power & goods in the status quo, or because they are aware that it cannot be maintained in its present form. This happened in the Soviet Union, first under Nikita Khruschev & then again under Mihail Gorbachev. Changes, however, when imposed from above, get out of hand & backfire against those who have set them off (as in the case of Gorbachev); what emerges is usually a compromise between the old & the emerging regime. Adapted from the source document.