Suchergebnisse

Although the fall of the Iron Curtain seemed to pave the way towards a new era of security, freedom and wealth in Central and Eastern Europe, the transition to democracy has been hindered by the weight of its communist heritage. In fact, elites of the old regimes have continued to play a determinant role, to the detriment of the growth of fully democratic societies. This article explores the consequences of post-communism, emphasising the disastrous effects of networks made up of former apparatchiks. The latter have often succeeded in retaining political and economic control in the new democracies. As a result, a genuine process of Europeanisation is hampered by the survival of the Soviet model of authoritarianism and manipulation of information, as demonstrated by an analysis of recent Hungarian political history.