January 24: Interwar Politics
You are a deputy minister in the British Foreign Ministry and are writing a short brief for your boss, the Foreign Minister of His Majesty's Government, towards the end of the interwar period. Explain briefly the common factors contributing to the decline of democracy in the East-Central European states. Give a set of policy recommendations on how His Majesty's Government might help to strengthen democracy in this critical region between Germany and the Soviet Union.
January 31: World War II
Take a crack at one of the two following much-debated historical puzzles:
(1) Why did right-wing dictatorships in Hungary and Romania get overthrown by even more right wing neo-Nazi fascist movements before the end of the war? Did Germany benefit from the establishment of regimes even more sympathetic to the Nazi ideology? What was the impact of the overthrow on their participation in the war on the Jewish population?
(2) Czechoslovakia had highly defensible mountainous borders and one of the strongest and well-equipped armies in Europe (thanks to the Skoda arms manufacturers). In contrast, Poland was an easily invaded flat plain and its cavalry famously still relied on horses. Why did Czechoslovakia fail to resist Nazi occupation in 1938 while Poland fought in 1939?
February 7: Establishment of Communist Regimes
Choose from one of the following two topics:
(1) Write a thought piece on why the Communists had some genuine support before they seized power in most countries in East-Central Europe. How did Communist parties in these countries attempt to increase their popular support in the period before they took total control of the government? To what extent were they successful?
(2) Based on the readings, particularly Kaplan and Drakulic, explain in a short essay how communist governments (1) failed to meet the basic needs of their citizens, and (2) killed off respect for "civil society" (i.e. democratic norms, respect for human rights, respect for dissent and freedom of expression).
February 14: Attempts at Dissent from Communism
It is the clear that the Soviets felt compelled to repress the Hungarian revolution of 1956 because Hungary was attempting not only to liberalize within the Communist system (i.e. allow greater economic and personal freedom), but to leave the Soviet bloc by leaving the Warsaw Pact. Why did the 1968 Czechoslovak "Prague Spring" fail even though the Dubcek and the rest of the Czechoslovak leadership specifically worked to keep the reforms mild and to avoid the concerns that lead to the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956? Why were Gheorghiu-Dej and Ceausescu’s deviations from Communist orthodoxy tolerated by the Soviets?
February 21: The Fall of Communism
What common factors led to end of communism and the reestablishment of democracies throughout East-Central Europe? Why do you think that the transition from communism to democracy occurred gradually in Poland (or Hungary) but very quickly in Czechoslovakia? Alternatively, why was the transition peaceful in Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia, but violent in Romania?
February 28: The Problem of Decommunisation
Write an editorial for The Prague Post arguing how newly democratic nations should treat former Communists and police informers. Do you think that Czechoslovakia's policy of lustrace was a good means of addressing the problem of decommunisation? Did it go too far or not far enough?
March 7: Midterm Exam
March 14: No Class -- Spring Break
March 21: The Fall of Yugoslavia
One of the more fiercely contested questions of modern comparative politics is whether the collapse of Yugoslavia was inevitable. Write a short piece for Foreign Affairs magazine arguing one side or the other on this topic. What factors contributed to the collapse of Yugoslavia? How might have the West helped to prevent its demise?
March 28: Economic Reform
Imagine that Belarus has overthrown authoritarian leader Vladimir Lukashenka. You are a senior, influential advisor to the president of Belarus, chosen in the nation's first truly free elections. The president is trying to decide whether Belarus should pursue shock therapy to improve the Belarusian economy based on the experience of other nations in the "near abroad" (i.e. the nations formerly under Soviet domination). In your brief to the president, explain what is "shock therapy?" What were the positive and negative consequences of shock therapy for Poland? Do agree with Jeffrey Sachs that a more gradual approach to economic reform would only have made the pain of economic transformation in Belarus even worse?
April 4: Minorities and Majorities
You work for an OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) mission to a democratizing nation in East-Central Europe. Assess for OSCE headquarters the prevelence of discimination against one of three minority groups, Jews, Russians, or Roma, as outlined in one of the following three questions.
(1) How prevalent is anti-Semitism today in East-Central Europe? Why does it continue to exist in a region with very few Jews?
(2) How have the various Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) made it difficult for ethnic Russians to gain citizenship (and thus to participate fully in the new Baltic democracies)? Do you think that these limits on Russians are morally right and reasonable? Should the West pressure the Baltic states to treat Russians more equally?
(3) Who are the Roma? Has their status improved or declined since the demise of Communism in Eastern Europe? How might the West and East-Central European governments promote greater integration and acceptance of the Roma? (See unassigned chapters in the Hockenos book as well as the assigned chapters in the Fonseca book for information on this topic.)
April 11: Electoral Systems
You are an editorial writer for Lidové Noviny (Prague), or Gazeta Wyborcza (Warsaw), or Libertatea (Bucharest). Write an editorial analyzing the electoral system in your country. In what ways has the electoral system helped entrench democracy or caused problems in your nation? Has the electoral system aided free-market reformers or ex-communists? Do you think that your country should reform or change its electoral system? What might be the pitfalls of changing the system?
April 18: Democratic Elections
You are a country officer at the U.S. Department of State (most countries have their own "desk" at State). You need to write a brief explaining the nature of political party competition in "your" country. For one of three counties (Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic) you read about for this week, describe the source of the major divisions between the political parties. Are they the same as the historic party divisions from the interwar period? Are the source of party cleavage (i.e. the major issues on which the parties disagree) the same for all three countries?
April 25: Consolidation of Democracy
How strong is support for democracy in East-Central Europe? Write an opinion piece for the New York Times on whether you think there is a chance that democracy will fail and some of these nations will revert to authoritarian or some other types of undemocratic regimes. Even if democracy does not fail, is there a chance that some of these nations will gradually become less protective of human rights?
The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author. The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by the American University. If you have any questions about this page, please email David Lublin at dlublin@american.edu. This page was last updated on January 6, 2002.