In a pellucid resource volume, Nations in Transit-1998, leading regional specialists and Freedom House experts respond to a checklist of 46 indicators for 28 countries in seven key areas: political process, civil society, independent media, rule of law, governance and public administration, privatization and economic reform.
The results are incisive, authoritative, and comprehensive country-by-country reports which assess the progress of ex-Communist nations in ridding themselves of repressive political systems and inefficient statist economies. As an added dimension, Freedom House, which for a quarter century has rated political rights and civil liberties around the world in its benchmark Annual Survey of Freedom, developed a rating system which allows for a comparative analysis of countries in terms of political and market reforms.
Nations in Transit-1998 is an invaluable resource and reference tool for government and non-government agencies, schools and universities of all sizes, and individuals who are interested in better understanding the political, economic, and legal institutions that comprise the infrastructure on which the transition to more open markets and societies depend. This is a stunning addition to the linkage of hard data and theory construction. As Robert L. Bartley, editor of the Wall Street Journal notes: "Freedom House's survey is the most systematic, most comprehensive and most reliable survey of the individual's status in the world's political systems."
