The Commanding Heights and Liberalization: The Case of Yugoslavia

Abstract

Generally abandoning the analytical construct totalitarianism, Western scholars are beginning to appreciate the contradictions of communist systems. It is now clear that, although forces for stability are still dominant, forces for change are also at work. The changes most discussed in the West relate to liberalization. Most aptly defined as the progressive withdrawal of political control over aspects of individual and group activities in society,2 liberalization is too often oversimplified and overestimated. In this essay, reconsideration of the problems of theories of modernization and pluralism, from which most of the analysis of liberalization in communist states is derived, suggests new directions of inquiry. It is suggested that emphasis on elite decisions, rather than macrolevel social changes, is best suited to the Yugoslav case. The result is a demonstration of the complexity of the liberalization process: heterogeneous and diverse in dynamics and limits. Much of the theorizing about the liberalization of communist systems is teleological. Societies undergoing the macrolevel social changes of industrialization (suCh as changing workforce, widening channels of communication, and greater complexity of the economy) are assumed to require rational decision making, decentralization, and differentiated status groups (especially highly trained managerial and engineering specialists) and institutions.3 The assumptions underlying these analyses are identical to the much-criticized modernization and pluralist democracy theories. The solutions to the analytical problems suggested for those approaches would seem appropriate for the study of change in communist systems as well. The critique of Huntington,4 a leading theorist of political change, is applicable to studies of communism. Among the most important assumptions