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Levels of both religiosity and of religious influence on public policy vary enormously across the countries of post-communist East Central Europe. This variation poses a challenge to existing explanations, which have focused on religious competition and alliances with political parties to explain religious participation and policy influence, respectively. The legacy of religious nationalism instead helps to explain both the vibrancy of religious participation and the influence of churches on democratic public policy. This variation also calls for greater scrutiny of “historical legacies”: while some patterns are durable and reach back centuries, others are recent innovations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses democracy in countries in the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region. It describes the transitions of democracy in several countries including Hungary, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Slovakia. The article provides a comparison of the political landscapes between Western countries and CEE countries. It discusses the political parties in CEE countries which are mentioned to focus more on cultural issues than socioeconomic problems. The article also provides an overview of democratic procedures in CEE countries.