Adopting the Rules of the Democratic Game: Western European Guide to Democratization in the Post-Communist Block.

Although recent decades have witnessed a worldwide explosion in the number of democracies, the growth and consolidation of democracy are by no means a stable phenomenon, let alone a universal trend. The aim of this paper is to examine democratization in the post-communist block, and to compare this process to the Western European experience. This paper argues that the most important and necessary factor for consolidation of democracy is the adoption of democratic institutions in the polity and the establishment of liberal market institutions in the economy. However, this institutional factor alone is not sufficient. Successful consolidation of liberal democracy requires presence of macro-structural conditions facilitating democratization and support of civil society. By examining the dynamics of transitions to democracy and comparing it to the model countries in Western Europe this paper discloses persistent problems of institutional design, regime legitimacy, and political participation, compounded by economic difficulties, producing an uncertain future in the countries of post-soviet block. Notwithstanding the long and varied history of democratization in Western Europe, its experience is still comparable by showing what can and cannot be achieved through borrowing institutional designs. The results of this study show the need to reach an agreement on the specific institutional arrangement, where agreement on rules means agreement on procedures and not on outcomes. In the polity, it is the design or re-establishment of governmental institutions and electoral systems conducive to the legitimation of the new and fragile democracies. In the economy, it is the establishment or expansion of the institutional infrastructure of the market economy, including privatization, deregulation, and the opening up of the economy. In the society, it is respect to the rule of law, active participation, and development of culture of tolerance and negotiating. The overriding imperative for democratizing countries is to develop both the structure and culture of democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]