Political Transformations in Central Europe: Democratization and Backsliding since 1989

About

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Viadrina Summer Program 2020 has been postponed.

The seminar explores political transformations in Central Europe from the regime change in 1989 until today, thus covering processes of democratization, consolidation and backsliding that took place over the past 30 years. As a point of departure, the course starts with discussing the political nature of communist regimes across the region before 1989, and the high hopes for democratic transformation and consolidation in the early 1990s as part of the third wave of democracy. Further on, the role of Europeanization, the European Union’s so-called transformative power, will be discussed as an important factor supporting the region’s democratization. A balance of achievements and shortcomings of transformation after the EU accession will be drawn, leading into a discussion about recent deconsolidation trends and concerns regarding the quality of these countries’ democracies as full-fledged member states of the European Union. Throughout the course, particular attention will be paid to the cases of Hungary and Poland, the former frontrunners of democratization currently under close scrutiny. The course closes by putting the current regional trends into a wider context of the ebb of the third wave of democracy and the challenges liberal democracies face globally.

Course leader

Zsuzsanna Vegh

Target group

Undergraduate Students

Fee info