Articles & Reviews

The ENP Progress Report surveys developments in Ukraine over the year 2007. It evaluates Ukraine's progress on political, economic, and social issues relating to Ukraine's relationship with the EU and sets out recommendations for the next year.

Silitsky maintains that any talk about “democratic contagion” can now rest at a silent murmur. This very assertive article delineates the reasons for which the author claims the post-Soviet wave of revolutions is certainly over.

Way’s basic argument is that scholars have misconstrued some of the transitions that have occurred in the former Soviet Union as transitional democracies, whereas in fact they were or remain weak autocracies.

In studying what mechanisms most significantly impact the transitions from tyranny to democracy, it is important to note the history of successful, nonviolent “people power” revolutions.

Grabbe examines the Commission’s proposal for the European Neighborhood Policy and argues that the EU should give stronger incentives for its neighbors in order to increase the efficacy of its policies.

Korkut examines the role of civil society in this article, based largely upon interviews conducted in Romania, Poland and Hungary. He concludes that it is not just the existence of a vibrant civil society, but more importantly the existence of democratic structure within interest groups of this society that lends itself to democratic transition.

Multilateral organizations, donor governments and international politicians have pushed the conception of civil society as a requisite for the political transformation of post-communist countries since the downfall of communism. Civil society is regarded as an answer to problems ranging from participation, accountability, good governance and good values to service delivery.

Civil society played a vital role in the colored revolutions of Georgia and Ukraine, exemplified by the activism of the youth groups Kmara and Pora. As democratic reform has stalled, however, these groups have found themselves increasingly marginalized because of the reemergence of authoritarian practices and elites.

In understanding why some autocratic regimes have been more stable than others, this paper focuses on the strength of autocratic regime structures, rather than the role of opposition parties or other democratic forces.