The Return of the Left in Post-communist States

This volume offers a thorough empirical analysis of the experiences of the left-wing parties in post-communist states and assesses their prospects for the future.The volume examines the fortunes of the political left in selected post-communist countries: Russia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia and Romania. Regardless of their individual experiences, they all face similar challenges relating to their authoritarian past. These challenges include building a civil society and combating an under-developed party system and a mercurial electorate, combined with the political and social pressures associated with the transformation to a market economy. Six country studies all address how the left-wing parties have returned to the political stage and discuss their prospects for the future. The volume finds that the left has been a resilient, and generally underestimated, force in post-communist states aided by a unique combination of history, geography, commerce and social/cultural values. This book will be of interest to students and scholars as well as policy practitioners with responsibility for post-communist regions.