Nationalism and Pluralism and the Process of Political Development in Eastern Europe

Abstract

This paper examines the interaction of nationalism, pluralism and political development in six countries of Eastern Europe from the end of World War II up to the 1980s. To make the analysis more manageable, nationalism is conceptualized as national political culture and pluralism is identified by the presence of interest groups. Both these concepts, of course, play a major role in the process of all political development. The paper's main question concerns the ability of the countries under discussion to weather the developmental crises that have descended upon the region in the current decade. Of the six East European countries examined, only Hungary has succeeded reasonably well in its task of crisis management. Furthermore, it is both the national political cultures and the groups in the respective countries examined that have been largely responsible for the varying degrees of political development. Finally, on the strength of the experience in the 1980s, it is assumed that both these factors will play an even more important role in the region in the years to come.