Based on a series of controlled comparisons among regimes and states, Valerie Bunce's book argues that two factors account for the remarkable collapse of the socialist dictatorships in Europe from 1989-1992: the institutional design of socialism as a regime, a state and a bloc, and the rapid expansion during the 1980s of opportunities for domestic and international change. Together, these two factors explain not just why socialist regimes and states ended, but also why the process was peaceful in some cases and violent in others.
FREE Two-Day Shipping for students on millions of items. Learn more |
| |||||||||||||||
 Sell Back Your Copy for $0.61
Whether you buy it used on Amazon for $5.00 or somewhere else, you can sell it back through our Book Trade-In Program at the current price of $0.61.
Used Price$5.00
Trade-in Price$0.61
Price after
Trade-in$4.39 |
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
Review
"...this book answers the question of our age and provides an eminently worthy target to shoot at." Robert Legvold, Foreign Affairs
"Bunce's story is a complicated one, but that, in fact, is part of the message of her book: that parsimony in explaining macrolevel historical change may come at the cost of cutting out precisely those variables that need attention...The real value of her account is its concretizin exactly what the much-discussed "communist legacies" really are." World Politics 53
"The arguments presented in the book bear upon a larger circle of issues in the study of comparative transitions from socialism." Slavic and East European Journal
"Bunce's story is a complicated one, but that, in fact, is part of the message of her book: that parsimony in explaining macrolevel historical change may come at the cost of cutting out precisely those variables that need attention...The real value of her account is its concretizin exactly what the much-discussed "communist legacies" really are." World Politics 53
"The arguments presented in the book bear upon a larger circle of issues in the study of comparative transitions from socialism." Slavic and East European Journal
Book Description
Based on a series of controlled comparisons among regimes and states , Valerie Bunce argues in this book that two factors account for the remarkable collapse of the socialist dictatorships in Europe from 1989-1992: the institutional design of socialism as a regime, a state and a bloc, and the rapid expansion during the 1980s of opportunities for domestic and international change. Together, these two factors explain not just why socialist regimes and states ended, but also why the process was peaceful in some cases and violent in others.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A MUST-READ BOOK FOR ADVANCED STUDENTS IN THE FIELD,
This review is from: Subversive Institutions: The Design and the Destruction of Socialism and the State (Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics) (Paperback)
Among the multitude of books written on the issue of the Post-Socialist collapse, Subversive Institutions is a true masterpiece. It is very readable, and it can serve as a good introduction for a novice in the field, and as an excellent summary to an advanced scholar. Socialism did not collapse uniformly across the region. Bunce poses and answers three main questions: the nature of the collapse, the time of the collapse, and the reason for the collapse os state socialism. Why do some countries submerge into civil wars, while some disintegrated peacefully? To provide an answer to these and other questions, Bunce looks at the differences within the institutional arrangements, the institutional designs these countries developed during tne course state socialism. Undoubtedly, the book is one of the best ever written in the field of transitology.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very Smart Book.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Subversive Institutions: The Design and the Destruction of Socialism and the State (Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics) (Paperback)
I liked this book for the way Bunce is using Boolean algebra: a simple method but not widely used in Comparative Politics.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not bad! Not bad at all!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Subversive Institutions: The Design and the Destruction of Socialism and the State (Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics) (Paperback)
The book is really something. Why? Primarily for two reasons. First of all, there have been libraries of material written on the subject of the Socialist collapse, so the readers - new to the field as well as proficient scholars trying to find a good account of it within the boundaries of a book - find themselves somewhat lost in the jungle of different and presumably equally good accounts of the causes of the Socialist collapse. No more search for them now that we have the Bunce book. It covers the event concisely and to the point. The second reason is that it offers a unique and compelling explanation of the communist collapse as embedded in the system's design itself. That, of course, leaves a room for a debate whether the collapse was somewhat predetermined at the neginning, or it could have possibly been avoided. But if research can produce a debate, it is already potentially good, and hardly any book can conclusively identify all the causes of the collapse. This one, however, keeps the reader excited and the brain stimulating.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Inside This Book
(learn more)
First Sentence:
From 1989 to 1990 socialism collapsed throughout the territories that, during the cold war era, had comprised the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
state dismemberment, redistributive dynamics, national federalism, domestic socialism, dominant republic, socialist region, secessionist pressures, socialist federations, institutional determinism, socialist dictatorships, postwar international order, republican level, peaceful division, socialist institutions, nationalist mobilization, regime collapse, recent democratization, socialist experience, state dissolution, republican lines, socialist context, political monopoly, socialist past, socialist publics, political opportunity structure Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Soviet Union, Communist Party, East Germany, World War, League of Communists, Boris Yel'tsin, German Democratic Republic, Warsaw Pact, Yugoslav National Army, Russian Federation, Bolshevik Revolution New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
From 1989 to 1990 socialism collapsed throughout the territories that, during the cold war era, had comprised the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
state dismemberment, redistributive dynamics, national federalism, domestic socialism, dominant republic, socialist region, secessionist pressures, socialist federations, institutional determinism, socialist dictatorships, postwar international order, republican level, peaceful division, socialist institutions, nationalist mobilization, regime collapse, recent democratization, socialist experience, state dissolution, republican lines, socialist context, political monopoly, socialist past, socialist publics, political opportunity structure Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Soviet Union, Communist Party, East Germany, World War, League of Communists, Boris Yel'tsin, German Democratic Republic, Warsaw Pact, Yugoslav National Army, Russian Federation, Bolshevik Revolution New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 100
books:
See all 100 books this book cites
25
books
cite this book:
See all 25 books citing this book
- The End of Czechoslovakia by Jiri Musil on 5 pages
- Thinking Theoretically About Soviet Nationalities by Alexander J. Motyl in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- Becoming National: A Reader by Geoff Eley in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- East-Central European Economies in Transition by John P. Hardt in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Soviet Union (Global Studies) by Minton F. Goldman in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
See all 100 books this book cites
- Russia's Unfinished Revolution: Political Change from Gorbachev to Putin by Michael McFaul on page 10, page 159, and page 329
- National Purpose in the World Economy: Post-Soviet States in Comparative Perspective (Cornell Studies in Political Economy) by Rawi Abdelal on page 20, page 25, and page 154
- Contagious Capitalism: Globalization and the Politics of Labor in China by Mary Elizabeth Gallagher in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- New Institutionalism: Theory and Analysis (Studies in Comparative Political Economy and Public Policy) by Andr? Lecours on page 74, and page 174
- Exit-Voice Dynamics and the Collapse of East Germany: The Crisis of Leninism and the Revolution of 1989 by Steven Pfaff in Back Matter
See all 25 books citing this book
Books on Related Topics
(learn more)
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product).
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
