A Concise Field Guide to Post-Communist Regimes: Actors, Institutions, and Dynamics

Magyar and Madlovics argue for a vocabulary and grammar tailored to the specifics of the region, presenting a conceptual framework with a typology of post-communist regimes and an ideal-type actors and phenomena. The book is a digestible companion to the 800-page Anatomy of Post-Communist Regimes, offering a concise and holistic approach to post-communism.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 260 pages
Publication date: 25 August 2022
Publisher: Central European University Press

While the literature on hybrid regimes has abandoned the assumption that post-communist countries must democratize, its language and concepts still largely refer to Western democracies. Magyar and Madlovics strongly advocate for a vocabulary and grammar tailored to the region's specificities. In their 120 theses, they present a conceptual framework that includes (1) a typology of post-communist regimes and (2) a detailed presentation of ideal-type actors and the political, economic, and social phenomena in these regimes. The book serves as a more accessible companion to The Anatomy of Post-Communist Regimes (CEU Press, 2020), a comprehensive theoretical study with numerous empirical illustrations.

Each of the 120 theses contains a statement followed by a concise discussion supported by illustrative tables, figures, and QR-codes that direct the interested reader to the more detailed analysis in the Anatomy. In a condensed form, this book has maintained the holistic approach of the Anatomy and treats the spheres of political, market, and communal action as integral parts of a unified and coherent whole. The endeavor to synthesize a vast range of ideas does not, however, result in a overly complicated text. On the contrary, freed from the implicit presumptions of democracy theory, the new terminology yields a readily usable toolkit of unambiguous means of expression to discuss post-communism.

Weight: 362g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9789633865873