Theoretical Perspectives on Central Europe

Abstract

Various theoretical perspectives on developments in post- communist Central Europe are considered. The paradigms of the modernisation and democratic theories are found insufficient to explain such phenomena as the renewal of ethno-regional identities that are typical of the region and sometimes lead to irre- denti sm and secession. It is argued that these phenomena can be better understood in the context of Rokkan's conceptions of state- and nation-building. Rokkan's theory on the critical junctures in history is tested on the return of the 1991 Polish parlia- mentary elections. The map of the turnout in this elections is produced, showing the lines of the Third Partition (1795-1919) in contemporary electoral behaviour. Other examples of the re-integration of historic regions are presented and the consequence of this development discussed. Czech Sociological Review, 1996, Vol. 4 (No. 1: 3-17) The first surge of the literature on post-communist transition concentrated on the nascent democratic institutions and developing markets. These are typical issues that democratic theory - wherein democracy is understood as a redistributive mechanism - addresses. From such a perspective it is easier to understand the way in which wealth is distributed and institutional constraints are challenged in the established democracies, with their de- fined boundaries, entrenched institutions, operating markets and social structures already in place. It seems less helpful, however, in approaching the processes of institution- building and the major, almost revolutionary, changes of societal structures. Democratic theory does not address the issue of state-making and integra- tion as processes with their own dynamics nor can it handle the problem of territorial ten- sions generated by these processes. Such phenomena as irredentism and secession are beyond the grasp of the leading paradigms of social sciences and therefore are consigned to the sphere of irrational incidents or peculiarities of a political culture. This means that they are of no relevance to the mainstream models. Since territorial tensions are the leading phenomena of the post-communist world, to understand them we must go to Rokkan rather than to Dahl.