Abstract
An underplayed area in democratization research, the problem of historical legacies is examined with reference to regime change theory and its negative and positive aspects. These include different patterns and types of legacies, the political utilization of the past and conflicting reactions to the communist period as well as the emergence of political learning and possibilities for ‘overcoming’ the past. It is concluded that such legacies may have a powerful influence during democratization but do not determine its outcome, that they rarely play an objective role in regime change, and that there is considerable cross-national variation in their impact.
Published Version
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