Eastern European Studies Commons^™

Democratization In Bosnia, Melanie Kawano, Amber Goodman, Chris Saeger

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Democratization in post-conflict, post-Dayton Bosnia has been characterized by many scholars as a “noble experiment”: the West’s guinea pig for internationally initiated post-communist democratization. In a state so wearied by war and dictatorship, democracy would be expected to take root quickly and flourish. However, due to various cultural and political influences, what the Dayton Peace Agreement originally intended to quickly lead to Bosnia’s self-governance has instead resulted in the state’s crippling dependence on external actors. The articles in this section of this bibliography explore the myriad influences (primarily under the umbrella of ethnicity) on the process.

Neotrusteeship In Bosnia, Lauren Ingram

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The conflict in Bosnia resulted in 4.3 million displaced people, 250,000 estimated casualties, and more than 200,000 wounded including 50,000 children. (Cousens and Carter 25). In 1995, these facts became known to the world when the U.N. Protection Force (UNPROFOR), NATO, and the United States were able to reach a peace agreement with warring factions. As in World War II, Bosnian-Serbians, Bosnian-Croatians, Croatians, Muslim were active combatants. However, unlike World War II, no single governing authority emerged. Instead, the U.N., with key U.S. involvement, had to institute not only peace but also an administration that could uphold that peace. The …

State-Building In Bosnia, Chris Saeger

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Although the idea of state-building is at least as contentious as the idea of the state itself, international technocrats and foreign policymakers remain resigned to this project. International state-building has been conceived of as maintaining intermestic social order, protecting individual rights, and consolidating transnational linkages of power. Yet whatever the motive, effect or standard form of state-building, some political organization called “the state” is a necessary condition for membership in international society, if not for protecting individual human rights.

Uzbekistan, Chris Maggard

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The Central Asian republics have largely remained hidden from the world attention since they gained independence a decade ago. However, immediately following September 11th the region was brought into focus as a part of the US-led “War on Terror”. Uzbekistan became a full partner in this initiative when the government decided to allow the U.S. military full use of its territory in the invasion against Afghanistan . As Uzbek President Karimov has become willing to work with the West than neighboring countries, the debate in recent years has been how and to what extent, rather than whether or not the …

The Eu And The Npt: Testing The New European Nonproliferation Strategy, Clara Portela

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Only a few years ago, the idea that the European Union (EU) could become a significant actor in the nuclear nonproliferation regime would have met with great scepticism. An organisation comprising nuclear weapon states (NWS) along with non-nuclear weapons states (NNWS) - some of who are disarmament-minded - would have been considered incapable of framing any common response to nuclear proliferation. And yet, today we find that the EU is establishing itself as an actor in the field of nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), and that it has even developed a Strategy to guide its endeavours.This article will …

Institutional Change And Persistence: The Evolution Of Poland's Electoral System, 1989-2001, Kenneth Benoit, Jacqueline Hayden

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Electoral systems are uniquely distributive political institutions that shape political outcomes, yet are themselves endogenously shaped outcomes of political choices. In Poland, party system development has involved not only parties adapting to electoral institutions in each election, but also parties modifying these institutions prior to every election. We model electoral system change as driven by partisan self-interest in maximizing seat share and test it in five episodes of electoral system change in Poland from 1989 to 2001, comparing parties’ support for electoral law alternatives to their expectations of seat shares from those alternatives. Data consists of opinion polls, roll-call votes, …

Romania, Bulgaria, The United States And The European Union: The Rules Of Empowerment At The Outskirts Of Europe, Dana Neacsu

Law Faculty Publications

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States came to Eastern Europe spreading the gospel of democracy and the American Rule of Law. In addition to encouraging Western ideology, the United States was there to forge new economic relationships and, following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, to accelerate the creation of military alliances through membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the newly-formed "coalition of the willing." Romania and Bulgaria, among other former Soviet satellites, welcomed the invitation. Romania and Bulgaria are small countries which share similar economic pressures as they attempt to emerge …

From Principle To Practice: Constitutional Principles And The Transformation Of Party Finance In Germany And Italy, Riccardo Pelizzo

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The paper investigates the development of party finance and party finance legislation in Germany and Italy. The main claim of the paper is that the differences between German and Italian party finance reflect differences in the party finance legislation enacted in the two countries, which, in their turn, are a result of how the German and the Italian constitutional principles were translated into practice.

United Nations Tribunals And Complicity In Human Rights Violations: The Assassination Of Zoran Djindjic, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article presents a hypothesis of untoward consequences through the reification of human rights.

Factors That Affect Party Institutionalization: Ethnicity, Electoral Systems, And Economics In East Europe, Joe Robbins

Masters Theses

This thesis examines party institutionalization in East Europe. Ethnicity, electoral systems and economics are variables explored in the substantive chapters. Many political science studies examine the number of parties in East Europe, but only a few studies study party institutionalization. Chapter 1 establishes the foundations for this thesis and provides an overview of each chapter.

In the second chapter, I analyze the relationship between institutionalized parties and ethnicity. Kitschelt (1992) argues that in the absence of institutionalized parties, voters look to other factors, such as ethnicity, when voting. The results from this chapter report that ethnicity plays a limited role …

Democratic Consolidation In Eastern Europe, Michael Rudy

Masters Theses

This thesis examines democratic consolidation in five Eastern European countries. The Baltic States have consolidated their democratic regimes but Romania and Bulgaria have struggled to do so. I attempt to explain why this has happened. In chapter one, I introduce the topic and provide an overview for the next six chapters.

In the second chapter, I examine the literature that pertains to this topic. The literature focuses on several aspects of democratic consolidation. I examine how economic growth, privatization, foreign direct investment, modes of transition, violence, initial post-communist political contest winner, electoral laws, and the citizenship law all play an …

The Role Of The Eu In The Non-Proliferation Of Nuclear Weapons: The Way To Thessaloniki And Beyond, Clara Portela

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Over the past few years the EU has begun taking some steps against the spread of nuclear weapons within its Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP). At the Thessaloniki Summit June 2003, the European Council adopted its first draft Strategy against the proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD). In order to assess the significance of the Strategy, this paper will first present and evaluate the Union’s record in the field, then review the newly released Strategy, and finally make suggestions as to how it can be improved.

The EU is not an unitary actor in the nuclear non-proliferation domain, …

Like Deja Vu All Over Again: The Hungarian Parliamentary Elections Of 2002, Kenneth Benoit

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

On 7 and 21 April 2002, Hungary went to the polls to vote in its fourth competitive election since the transition to a multi-party system in 1989. Voting took place in two rounds, first on 7 April in 176 single-member districts and 20 proportional list districts, and then on 21 April in a run-off in the 131 single-member districts that had not yielded a majority candidate in the first round. The result was a surprise to nearly everyone. First, surpassing all expectations, turnout exceeded 70 per cent of the registered electorate, higher than in any previous election in Hungary. Second, …

Trends. When Governments Want Government To Change, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This Trends article discusses regime change in Germany and Iraq in a political psychological context.

East European Security Revisited: Institutions, Power, And Security, Blagovest Tashev

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Drawing on the literatures on democratization, security studies, and small states this dissertation explores the relationship of small states' domestic and international institutionalization and their security. Small states have limited power not only to affect their environment but also to guarantee national security. Small states, it is hypothesized, enhance their security through the consolidation of domestic institutions and the accumulation of capacities provided by their participation in capacity-reach international institutions.

The dissertation tests the hypothesis by applying the comparative method to the post-communist states of Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, and Lithuania. The three case studies analyze the effects of domestic …

Kosovo And Beyond: Is Humanitarian Intervention Transforming International Society?, Roberto Belloni

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

Saving Strangers: Humanitarian Intervention in International Society by Nicholas J. Wheeler. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001. 352pp.

and

The Kosovo Tragedy: The Human Rights Dimensions edited by Ken Booth. Portland, OR: Frank Cass, 2001. 386pp.

Reshaping The Present And Constructing The Future Through Remembering The Past, Mercedes Barros

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

When History is a Nightmare: Lives and Memories of Ethnic Cleansing in Bosnia Herzegovina by Stevan Weine. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1999. 259 pp.

and

The Politics of Memory: Truth, Healing and Social Justice by Ifi Amadiume and Abdullahi An-Na’im. New York: Zed Books, 2000. 207 pp.

Institutional Choice In New Democracies: Bargaining Over Hungary's 1989 Electoral Law, Kenneth Benoit, John W. Schiemann

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Institutions shape political outcomes, yet institutions themselves are endogenously shaped outcomes of political choices. Such choices are especially significant during transitions to democracy, when initial institutional designs fundamentally structure the path of democratic development. Most theories of institutional emergence, however, focus on stable contexts rather than on the conditions of acute uncertainty identified in the standard transitions literature. Our article attempts to bridge the two subfields by outlining and applying a model of institutional choice as the outcome of a struggle between fledgling opposition parties and the authoritarian regime wherein each side struggles to gain the greatest distributive payoff. We …

District Magnitude, Electoral Formula, And The Number Of Parties, Kenneth Benoit

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

Duverger's propositions concerning the psychologicaland mechanical consequences of electoral rules have previously beenexamined mainly through the lens of district magnitude,comparing the properties of single-member district pluralityelections with those of multimember proportional representationelections. The empirical consequences of multi-member plurality(MMP) rules, on the other hand, have received scant attention.Theory suggests that the effect of district magnitude on the numberand concentration of parties will differ with regard to whether theallocation rules are plurality-based or proportional. I test thistheory by drawing on a uniquely large-sample dataset where districtmagnitude and electoral formula vary but the basic universe ofpolitical parties is held constant, applying regression analysis …

Evaluating Hungary's Mixed-Member Electoral System, Kenneth Benoit

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The electoral system adopted by Hungary in 1989 represents a monument to the potential for institutional design through bargaining to produce complex yet stable institutions. The key compromise reached during this bargaining process was the decision to use a mixed-member system, electing a roughly even number of representatives from both majoritarian single-seat districts (SSDs) and from multi-seat, list proportional representation (PR) districts. This decision established Eastern Europe's first mixed-member electoral system, a format that was to become common in post-communist electoral systems. In its ten-year existence, Hungary's mixed-member system has operated in three elections and seen three different governments come …

The Truth On Living In Truth, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article delineates a significant problem with Vaclav Havel's analysis of the power of the powerless through living in truth.

Ingroup, Outgroup, Out Of Group: Milosevic's Propaganda Failure, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes a social psychological perspective on Slobodan Milosevic's loss of political power in Yugoslavia.

Back To The F Scale: Milosevic As Authoritarian, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes the "fit" of Slobodan Milosevic's personality with the classic construct of the authoritarian as conceptualized by the initial form of the F Scale.

Trends. To Contest Or Not To Contest: A Necessary Ambivalence In Yugoslavia, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article discusses corruption of 2000 elections in Yugoslavia purportedly by Slobodan Milosevic, and the problematic task of effective subsequent action.

Trends. After The Election: Milosevic Myths, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article discusses the defeat of Slobodan Milosevic in his re-election attempt in 2000, as well as the subsequent political balance in Yugoslavia.

Trends. Psychopolitical Action In Yugoslavia: With Friends Like These, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article discusses the actions of the United States Government to affect Yugoslavian presidential elections in Macedonia and Serbia against Slobodan Milosevic, as well as Milosevic's use of these actions as evidence of outside interference. Nationalism as well as opposition strategies are also discussed.

Some Truth About Truth Commissions Iii: An Example From Poland, Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes some unintended but predictable consequences of truth commissions impeding the consolidation of democracy in post-totalitarian and post-authoritarian states.

Perspectives On Psychobiography With Reference To John Keane's "Vaclav Havel: A Political Tragedy In Six Acts", Ibpp Editor

International Bulletin of Political Psychology

This article describes some salient features of psychobiography and relates them to a recently released biography of Vaclav Havel.

Political Culture And Women's Political Activity In Post Communist Ukraine A Case Study Of The 1994 Elections, Tonja M. Wilt

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This research identifies and examines two distinct political cultures in post-communist Ukraine, characterized by the presence of Soviet and non-Soviet influences. Soviet political culture is associated with East Ukrainian regions where Soviet policies of Russification, collectivization and urbanization were deeply entrenched. The non-Soviet political culture is present in Western Ukraine where said policies were least successful and the Ukrainian culture is more established.

The question posed in this thesis is: To what extent, if any, do regional political cultures influence women's political activity in Ukraine? This study focuses on the Soviet practice of appointing hundreds of women to the Supreme …

The Concept And Practice Of Representative Democracy In Post-Communist Eastern Europe, Georgeta V. Pourchot

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

Using the concept of representation, this study advances a comparative interpretive analysis which makes use of hard statistical data and soft data to assess the direction of democratization in Eastern Europe between 1990 and 1998. Specifically, the study looks at how governments in Eastern Europe chose to heed constituencies' calls for the institution of a market economy, and analyzes the degree of government responsiveness towards constituencies. The study finds that the region is moving towards a more responsible and responsive type of governance, but at different paces and degrees. Poland leads with respect to government responsiveness. The Czech Republic displays …