Uncertain Path

1. From a People to a Nation-State

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pp. 23-49

Studying the phenomenon of post-communism in general, and the case of a small country in particular, is, due to its fluid nature, often met with discouraging voices. Seymour Martin Lipset (1993b, 1) argues that no one in the worlds of social science or politics anticipated the breakup of communism (and its multinational...

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2. The Emergence of Political Pluralism

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pp. 50-82

After Tito’s death in 1980, the ideology and power of the political center (Belgrade) gradually weakened and eventually collapsed. The system remained largely unchanged until 1987, but even before then, legislation and other political decisions coming from the center were often challenged and ignored if they threatened the “vital” interests...

3. Intellectuals and Politics

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pp. 85-100

The departure from socialism and the initiation of a democratic transition was most probably—in most cases—the work of intellectuals. This is not to diminish the role of other social groups in ending single-party rule. Intellectuals’ pronounced role in the “great transformation” could well be one of the crucial defining...

4. The Church and Religion after Communism

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pp. 101-116

Most outsiders easily recognize Slovenia as a “Catholic” country. It is homogeneous in both the ethnic and religious senses. According to the 1991 census, ethnic Slovenes represent 88 percent of the population of two million; 72 percent of these ethnic Slovenes identify themselves as Catholics. Despite these figures, and...

5. The Radical Right Challenge

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pp. 117-136

Michael Minkerbeng (2002) had good reasons to mention the gap between an enormous scholarly attention focused on the one hand on (democratic) transformation processes in Central and Eastern Europe and on the other on right-wing radical or ultra nationalist parties and movements there. Probably this scholarly...

6. In Lieu of a Conclusion: Toward Democratic Consolidation

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pp. 137-156

It has been about ten years since the third wave of democratization—which began in Portugal in 1974—reached then-communist Eastern and Central Europe. This milestone offers an opportunity to assess what has been accomplished thus far, to identify problems, and to judge the direction(s) that democratization is taking. This is, however...