Out of the Red : Building Capitalism and Democracy in Postcommunist Europe [Paperback]

Mitchell Alexander Orenstein (Author)

Book Description

Series: Development and Inequality in the Market Economy | Publication Date: July 31, 2001

After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the countries of East-Central Europe embarked on a journey to transform themselves into democratic capitalist societies. Their governments searched for strategies that would allow them to pursue radical market reforms within the context of nascent democratic politics. Poland adopted a neoliberal strategy that attempted to push through as much reform as possible before an antireform backlash could occur. In the Czech Republic, a social liberal strategy for transformation attempted to combine neoliberal macro-economic policies with social democratic measures designed to avert such a backlash.

A detailed analysis of Poland and the Czech Republic suggests that alternation between strategies has been the secret to the success of East-Central European countries.

This comparative case analysis identifies the significance of reform mistakes during transition and the corrective benefits of policy alternation, its claims illustrated with an in-depth study of privatization policy in the two countries.

Mitchell A. Orenstein delves into the historic struggle to build capitalism and democracy during a decade of post- communist transition in East-Central Europe and develops a model that explains why democratic policy alternation may accelerate policy learning under conditions of uncertainty and constraint.

Out of the Red is accessible to a general audience and as such is suitable for both graduate and undergraduate courses on political economy. It will be of particular interest to economists, political scientists, sociologists, students of postcommunism, and anyone interested in the relations between capitalism and democracy in the contemporary world.

Mitchell A. Orenstein is Assistant Professor of Political Science, Syracuse University.

Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: University of Michigan Press (July 31, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 047206746X
• ISBN-13: 978-0472067466
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,592,497 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mitchell A. Orenstein is S. Richard Hirsch Associate Professor of European Studies at Johns Hopkins University, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC. Professor Orenstein's work focuses on the international political economy of policy reform. His research has concentrated on the global spread of pension privatization, Central and East European economic transitions, and strategies of democratization.

Orenstein's first book, Out of the Red: Building Capitalism and Democracy in Postcommunist Europe (University of Michigan Press, 2001), won the 1997 Gabriel A. Almond Award of the American Political Science Association for the best dissertation in comparative politics. This book compares strategies for economic reform adopted in the Czech Republic and Poland after 1989 and their political, economic, and distributional consequences. It shows why democracies, under certain circumstances, can be more effective than dictatorships in economic policy making.

Privatizing Pensions: The Transnational Campaign for Social Security Reform (Princeton University Press, 2008) won the 2009 Charles H. Levine Prize of the International Political Science Association for a book that "makes a contribution of considerable theoretical or practical significance in the field of public policy and administration, takes an explicitly comparative perspective, and is written in an accessible style." Privatizing Pensions demonstrates the impact of a coalition of transnational actors led by the World Bank on pension privatization worldwide. This study shows that transnational actors can exert a powerful influence on domestic policy reform in democratic states despite lacking direct veto power, by influencing the ideas and policy preferences of domestic veto players.

Pensions, Social Security, and the Privatization of Risk (Columbia University Press, 2009) examines pension reform options for the United States under the Obama administration, drawing lessons from international experience. Professor Orenstein continues to study the effect of transnational actors on policy-making in democratic states and is starting a new project on the crisis of free market capitalism.

Professor Orenstein has also published two books on European social policy with the World Bank. Roma in an Expanding Europe: Breaking the Poverty Cycle, co-authored with Dena Ringold and Erika Wilkens, is a seminal study of Roma poverty, sociology, and public health. It won the Voter's Choice Award for the most innovative analytical and advisory activity and the World Bank Europe/Central Asia Knowledge Fair in 2004. Pension Reform in Europe: Process and Progress, co-edited with Robert Holzmann and Michal Rutkowski, analyzes the political economy of pension reform throughout the European Union.

Orenstein's teaching encompasses the fields of comparative politics, European studies, and international political economy. He teaches the SAIS core course Comparative National Systems, providing a general framework for comparative policy analysis. Professor Orenstein's class on the Political Economy of Transition in Central and Eastern Europe prepares students for a separate, student-organized research trip to Central and Eastern Europe during the January intersession, supported by a grant from the European Union through the Center for Transatlantic Relations at Johns Hopkins University and the Hirsch endowment. He also teaches Free Market in Crisis, Varieties of Capitalism, and International Political Economy research seminar.

Prior to joining the faculty of Johns Hopkins University in 2007, Orenstein held appointments at Harvard, Yale, Brown, Syracuse, and Moscow State Universities. He currently holds an appointment as Senior Fellow of the Center for European Policy Analysis. Orenstein's research has been recognized with fellowships from the MacArthur Foundation, American Council of Learned Societies, and Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. He has consulted for the World Bank, USAID, the government of Slovakia, and other organizations. Professor Orenstein has lived for several years in Europe - in Britain, France, Czech Republic, Poland, and Russia. His hobbies include travel, piano, and coaching baseball.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Important critique on neoliberalism and democracy, November 26, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Out of the Red : Building Capitalism and Democracy in Postcommunist Europe (Paperback)

Orenstein's book provides a compelling critique of neoliberal strategies implemented in Poland and the Czech Republic emphasizing the underappreciated role of democratic change in policy reform. He clearly outlines his arguments for what he calls "policy alternation" providing substantial evidence of 1) its existence and 2) its effect on policy. As a student of East European studies I found the book to be extremely useful in painting a clear picture of the policymaking process in these two post-communist countries and in filling in many gaps in the relevant literature. The book is very approachable and I highly recommend it to those interested in post-communist democracies - scholars and casual observers alike.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clear, comprehensive, and compelling, November 21, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Out of the Red : Building Capitalism and Democracy in Postcommunist Europe (Paperback)

The reviewer from New Brunswick, NJ is totally off base and shows remarkably little sign of actually having read the book. Out of the Red is not about "a bad neoliberal Poland and a good social democratic Czech Rep." Instead, the book argues that democratic policy alternation since 1989 has led to better economic performance in both countries, and that Poland has benefited more than the Czech Republic from policy learning as a result of more policy alternations in recent years. Moreover, democratic policy alternations have had such positive effects because the two countries share a common goal - membership of the European Union. Out of the Red offers a subtle and nuanced argument, with rich descriptions, and does not characterize either country as good or bad. In addition, the book is exceptionally well-written and provides a clear and comprehensive analysis of what has happened in these transition countries over the past ten years. It's a must read for anyone interested in the contemporary politics of economic reform.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A well written book on eastern Europe and democracy, September 30, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Out of the Red : Building Capitalism and Democracy in Postcommunist Europe (Paperback)

I bought _Out of the Red_ because I have a general interest in the relation between capitalism and democracy and in eastern Europe. It turned out to be one of the most interesting and enjoyable books I've read in a long time. First, the writing is terrific: it's not only clear and straightforward, but also really punchy, with a marvelous sense of irony. I'm sure it would be more than appropriate for undergraduate readers in terms of its style and approach. Second, the thesis really shed new light for me on the different strategies countries in eastern Europe have taken in their transition to capitalism and democracy, specifically Poland and the Czech Republic. The basic idea, as I see it (though I'm not expert in the field), starts with the assertion that Poland and the Czech Republic took contrasting approaches to their political and economic transitions, especially in the area of privitization policy, on which the author focuses a whole chapter. Where Poland followed a "shock therapy" route, the Czech Republic provided more of a social safety net to maintain popular support for "neoliberal" reform policies (the author calls this a "social liberal" route to reform). Here's where it gets interesting. The author suggests that the Polish reformers in instituting shock therapy under conditions of political democracy were able to learn from their mistakes when the social difficulties their policies produced brought their political opponents to power (a rise that, later, produced a pendulum swing in the opposite direction, once again toward shock therapy). In the Czech Republic, in contrast, the political stability created when the government instituted both neoliberal and "cohesion-oriented" policies at the same time actually extended the life of bad policies. The author calls the process by which, under conditions of democracy, eastern European policy reformers have learned from their mistakes, with the pendulum of reform swinging from "neoliberal" to "social liberal" policies and back again, "democratic policy alternation." "Eastern Central European countries that have succeeded in the transformation to capitalism and democracy," the author writes, "have done so not by sticking to a single strategy of reform, but rather by vigorous policy alternation and learning." This was really fascinating to me, and it seems to have implications far beyond its immediate subject, in political science, economics, policy, law, and even "information science" and "knowledge work." A terrific read and a very interesting book!