Pol 53 – Politics of Eastern Europe (Fall 2007)
Professor: Matt Murphy
Office: Trotter 319, Tues/Thurs 1-2:30, or by appointment
Contact: mmurphy2@swarthmore.edu, 610-690-6813
The Course:
How are Eastern European states being transformed by their aspirations to be European?
Why did the whole region suddenly collapse in 1989? What are the legacies of "real
existing socialism," and how did communism function for so long? Is Eastern European
political history best understood as a series of jarring disjunctures and radical
experiments (nation-states, fascism, communism, liberal democracy) overlaid on the
ruins of previous systems? Or can developments in the region be explained through
continuities and enduring legacies? Is the region unique, or can it be usefully compared to
anything else? And just what is “Eastern” Europe, anyway?
This course addresses these questions by exploring political continuity and change in the
region from the installation of communist regimes after World War II, to the social,
economic, and political transformations of the 1990s, to the recent EU enlargements. We
are interested both in events at the national or elite level, and the interactions of these
events with the lived experiences of women, men, ethnic groups, citizens, and people as a
whole. Topics include:
-the region’s interstitial location between rising and falling great powers;
-national fragmentation, and ethnic conflict;
-economic underdevelopment or "backwardness";
-totalitarianism, central planning, resistance, and reform;
-post-communist transitions and democratization;
-winners and losers of post-communist life;
-variations in democratic politics, economic transformation, and conflict.
Readings:
There are six books you should buy for this course:
-Ost, David. The Defeat of Solidarity. Cornell U. Press (2005)
-Grzymala-Busse. Redeeming the Communist Past. Cambridge U. Press (2002)
-Janos, Andrew. East Central Europe in the Modern World. Stanford U. Press (2000)
-Rothschild, Joseph & Nancy Wingfield. Return to Diversity Oxford U. Press (1999)
note: the 1990 edition is not updated, so find the 1999 edition if possible
-Fonseca, Isabel. Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and Their Journey. Vintage (1995)
-Bunce, Valerie. Subversive Institutions. Cambridge U. Press (1999)
Besides these books, there will be additional readings on blackboard and from online
sources. In addition, I encourage you to look at the anthologies at
http://www.rferl.org/reports/ and http://repositories.cdlib.org/uciaspubs/research/. The
Swarthmore Library also links to good background and research material at:
http://trilogy.brynmawr.edu/guides/Political_Science/. Finally, the syllabus lists extensive
supplementary readings. These are not required, but are good sources for your research
papers.
Assignments:
5 short response papers (25%) (1-2 pages each). These should be your comments on
the readings, or a part of the readings. They can be informal, but must be substantive.
That is, they should say something about the text (about concepts, definitions, problems,
contradictions, etc.) and should raise questions for the purposes of discussion. You will
sign up in advance for response papers, but the topics are up to you. Plan on spending a
few minutes presenting your paper to the class.
Class participation and country focus (15%). By week 2, you must choose a country
that you will become the class “expert” on. This means focusing on that country in the
readings, but not necessarily doing any additional work. Your response papers can focus
on this country, or not, as you choose. In general, participating means coming to class
having done the reading, figured out the main arguments, and formulated some questions
or comments about them.
Research Paper (40%). This is a 15+ page paper on a topic you decide on in
consultation with me. It can focus on any country/countries from our class, and can cover
the Communist period, the transitions, or the post-communist period. You may write on
the country you have focused on for discussions, but don’t have to. It must involve
substantial research beyond required course readings. Everyone will submit a detailed
paper proposal (with a tentative bibliography) well in advance. A possible research
question might look like this: “Why have Poland’s right wing political parties
consistently splintered and fragmented since 1990? Is there a long-term historical
explanation, is it a legacy of the communist era, or is there a more immediate political or
institutional explanation?” A more detailed assignment will be handed out later.
Short take-home midterm exam (10%). A brief set of short-essay questions (handed
out in advance) based entirely on course readings from the first half of the semester.
Short take-home final exam (10%). A brief set of short-essay questions (handed out in
advance) based entirely on course readings from the second half of the semester.
Schedule of Readings & Assignments
Week 1 (Sept 3)
History & Background
readings handed out & discussed in class:
Marx, German Ideology, Communist Manifesto (selections)
Lenin, “The State and Revolution,” 371-373
Janos, ECE in the Modern World, pp 3-10 (defining the region), 14-25 (backwardness)
clips from film: “Man of Marble” (1976) Polish, dir. Andrzej Wajda
*It is important to have a reasonably good understanding of WWII in Eastern Europe,
and Rothschild ch. 2 is a very good summary. Skim Rothschild chs 1-2 or Janos ch 2 if
you are not comfortable with your historical knowledge, or have a particular interest in
this period.
supplemental:
Gale Stokes, Three Eras of Political Change in Eastern Europe, esp. Ch. 1 “Eastern
Europe’s Defining Fault Lines” and Ch. 3, “Social Origins of East European
Politics,” also chs. 2, 4-6
Szucs, Jeno. “Three Historical Regions of Europe” (ask professor)
Rothschild, Joseph, East Central Europe Between the Two World Wars (1974)
Oscar Jaszi, The Dissolution of the Habsburg Monarchy, chs. 1-3
Janos, Andrew. Politics of Backwardness in Hungary, Chs. 6, Conclusions
Good, David, “The Economic Lag of Central and Eastern Europe”, J of Econ History
Barbara Jelavich, History of the Balkans, Vol. II, especially ch. 6
Davies, God’s Playground, Vol. II, Ch 19 in particular
Kochanowicz, “Polish Economy and the Evolution of Dependency,” in Chirot, ed.
(1989), Origins of Backwardness in Eastern Europe
Cohen, Broken Bonds, Ch 1 (approx. 1-25, Yugoslavia up to Tito)
Lampe, John. Yugoslavia as History, Ch. 1
Berend, Ivan. Central and Eastern Europe 1944-1993.
Barany, Zoltan and Volgyes, Ivan. The Legacies of Communism in Eastern Europe
Week 2 (Sept 10)
Establishment of Communist regimes & Stalinism
Stokes, selections: “Percentages Agreement,” “Tito-Stalin Correspondence” (bb)
Rothschild, Return to Diversity, Read Ch 3, skim Ch 4
Janos, East Central Europe in the Modern World, Ch 5
Leonhard, Child of the Revolution, Intro, Prologue, Chs 7-8, epilogue [bb]
(read Leonhard for the general story, not the details)
supplemental:
Berend, Central & Eastern Europe 1944-1993, Chs. 1-2
Stokes, From Stalinism to Pluralism, #1-4
Tismaneanu, Vladimir, Stalinism for all Seasons, Chs. 3-4
Jowitt, New World Disorder, Ch. 1, “The Leninist Phenomenon”
Schoepflin, Politics in Eastern Europe, Ch 3
Naimark, Russians in Germany
Cohen, Broken Bonds, Ch. 1
John Lampe, Yugoslavia as History, Ch. 8
Kersten, Krystyna, The Establishment of Communist Rule in Poland, 1991
Week 3 (Sept 17)
Destalinization, Resistance & Dissidence
Janos, Ch. 6
Rothschild, Return to Diversity, Ch 5
Stokes, selections: “Ethics and Antipolitics” (Havel and Konrad), “Letter from Gdansk
Prison” (Michnik)
supplemental:
Tismaneanu, Vladimir, Stalinism for all Seasons, Chs. 6-7 (aborted destalinization)
Berend, Chs 2-4
Havel, “Living in Truth” entire
Haraszti, Miklos, Velvet Prison
Milosz, Czeslaw, The Captive Mind
Michnik, Adam, Letters from Prison and other Essays (esp. “Maggots and Angels”)
Konwicki, Tadeusz, A Minor Apocalypse (novel)
Kundera, Milan, The Unbearable Lightness of Being (novel)
Kundera, Milan, The Joke (novel)
Stokes, From Stalinism to Pluralism, #7-11
Schoepflin, Politics in Eastern Europe, 4-5
Week 4 (Sept 24)
Economic System, Economic Decline, Reforms, Crises
Rothschild, Return to Diversity, Ch 6
Janos Kornai, The Socialist System, Chs. 3, 11, 23
Stokes, selections: “Reform Communism,” “Origins of Self-Management in Yugoslavia”
supplemental:
Kornai, The Socialist System (This is the classic work on socialist economies.)
Berend, Ch. 5
Brada, “Interpreting the Soviet Subsidization of Eastern Europe,” in IO, 1988
Ellen Comisso, “State Structures, Political Processes, and Collective Choice in CMEA
States” International Organization, 1986
Week 5 (Oct 1)
Late Communism & Breakdown (1980s)
Bunce, Valerie, “The Empire Strikes Back: The Evolution of the Eastern Bloc from a
Soviet Asset to a Soviet Liability.” International Organization, 1985 (bb)
Rothschild, Return to Diversity, Ch 7
Verdery, Katherine, “What Was Socialism and Why did it Fail?” (bb)
supplemental:
Michail Gorbachev, Perestroika
Berend, Chs. 6
Stokes, From Stalinism to Pluralism, #12, 17, 19-20, 26-27
Cohen, Broken Bonds
Stokes, The Walls Came Tumbling Down, esp. Chs. 1-5
supplemental on Eastern European International Relations:
Gati, ed., International Politics of Eastern Europe, Chs. 2, 3, 4
Jelavich, History of the Balkans, Ch. 9
Rothschild, Return to Diversity, Ch 5
Gati, Charles, Hungary and the Soviet Bloc, Part III
Gati, Charles, The Bloc that Failed
Lampe, Yugoslavia As History, 262-271
Film: “The Man Who Came In from the Cold”
Week 6 (Oct 8)
Transitions & Early post-Communist Politics
Rothschild, Return to Diversity, Ch 8
Elster, Offe, Preuss, Institutional Design in Post Communist Societies, Ch. 4 (bb)
Bernhard, Michael “Civil Society & Democratic Transition in East Central Europe” (bb)
supplemental:
Stokes, The Walls Came Tumbling Down, Ch. 6
Tismaneanu, Vladimir, Stalinism for all Seasons, Ch. 1
Hanson & Ekiert, Capitalism & Democracy in Central & Eastern Europe (use Chs. 3, 6)
McFaul & Stoner-Weiss, After the Collapse of Communism (chs. by McFaul, Bunce)
Berend, Ivan. Central and Eastern Europe 1944-1993.
Barany, Zoltan and Volgyes, Ivan. The Legacies of Communism in Eastern Europe.
Rose-Ackerman, From Elections to Democracy (Poland & Hungary)
TAKE-HOME MIDTERM EXAM DUE FRIDAY, OCT 12, 5PM
-- Fall Break –
Week 7 (Oct 22)
Breakups, Disintegration, and Wars
Roeder, “The Triumph of Nation-States…” (bb)
Bunce, Subversive Institutions
Film: “Pretty Village, Pretty Flame”
supplemental:
Schoepflin, Politics in Eastern Europe, Chs. 6-8
Cohen, Broken Bonds, Ch 3
Lampe, Yugoslavia as History, Ch 10, 11
Jowitt, New World Disorder, Ch 7-8
Blitz, ed. War and Change in the Balkans
Michael Mann, Dark Side of Democracy, (2 chapters on Yugo)
Bunce, Subversive Institutions
Crawford, “Explaining Cultural Conflict in the Ex-Yugoslavia: Institutional Weakness,
Economic Crisis, and Identity Politics,” in The Myth of Ethnic Conflict (1998,
online)
Jirí Musil, ed., The End of Czechoslovakia (1995)
RFE/RL Reports on Czechoslovakia, split
also
Brubaker, Nationalism Reframed, Chs. 3-4
Cohen, Broken Bonds
Silber & Little, Yugoslavia: Death of a Nation
Silber, Death of Yugoslavia (2003)
Naimark & Case, eds. Yugoslavia and Its Historians: Understanding … (2003)
Week 8 (Oct 29)
Economic Transformations
Janos, ECE in the Modern World, Ch. 7, Conclusion
Elster, Offe, Preuss, Institutional Design in Post Communist Societies, Ch. 5, 6
Claus Offe, Varieties of Transition, Ch. 3
Verdery, What was Socialism and What Comes Next? Ch 7
Film: everyone see “Goodbye Lenin” if you haven’t yet
supplemental:
Lipton & Sachs, “Creating a Market Economy in Eastern Europe: The Case of
Poland”Barany & Volgyes, Legacies of Communism in Eastern Europe, Chs. 3-6
Lipton & Sachs, “Privatization in Eastern Europe: The Case of Poland”
Ekiert & Hanson, Capitalism & Democracy in Central and Eastern Europe, Chs. 7-8
Sachs & Lipton, “Poland’s Economic Reform,” Foreign Affairs Summer 1990
Ernst et al, Transforming the Core (chapters on individual countries)
Frydman & Rapaczynski, Privatization in Eastern Europe, Ch. 3
Start & Bruszt, Postsocialist Pathways, Chs. 2-3, 5
Meaney, “Foreign Experts, Capitalists, and Competing Agendas” in Crawford & Lijphart,
eds. Liberalization and Leninist Legacies
Rona-Tas, “Social Engineering and Historical Legacies” in Crawford & Lijphart, eds.
Catalin Augustin Stoica “From Good Communists to Even Better Capitalists?
Entrepreneurial Pathways in Post-Socialist Romania” EEPS 2004 18: 236-277
Comisso, “Legacies of the Past or New Institutions?” in Crawford & Lijphart
Verdery, What was Socialism and What Comes Next? Chs 6-7 (restitution & pyramid
schemes, Romania)
Greskovits, Political Economy of Protest and Patience, Ch. 9
Rona-Tas “Economic Transition and the Absent Middle Class…” in Identities in
Transition (1996 online)
Also use Brookings Papers on Econ Activity (library, online)
Week 9 (Nov 5)
Post-Communist Politics I
Higley et al, “The Persistence of Post-Communist Elites” J. of Democracy (bb)
Grzymala-Busse, Redeeming the Past
supplemental:
Kitschelt et al, Post Communist Party Systems
Grzymala-Busse, Rebuilding Levaithan
Tucker, Regional Economic Voting
Geremek. “Civil Society then and Now” in Diamond & Plattner (1996)
Rose. “Postcommunism and the Problem of Trust” in Diamond & Plattner (1996)
Jowitt. “The New World Disorder” in Diamond & Plattner (1996)
Week 10 (Nov 12)
Post-Communist Politics II
David Ost, The Defeat of Solidarity
Elster, Offe, Preuss, Institutional Design in Post Communist Societies, Ch. 7-8
Film: “The Lives of Others”
supplemental:
Marc Howard, Weakness of Civil Society in Post-Communist Europe
Csergo, Talk of the Nation, Language and Conflict in Rom & Slovakia
Karklins, Rasmas. 2005. The System Made Me Do It: Corruption in Post-Communist
Societies.
Ganev, Preying on the State: Transformation of Bulg after 1989
Verdery, What Was Socialism and What Comes Next? Ch 4 (on Romania, nationalism)
Barany & Volgyes, Chs. 3-5, 7-14 (country studies)
Geddes, “Comparative Perspective on the Leninist Legacy in Eastern Europe” in
Crawford & Lijphart
Dawisha & Parrott, eds., Consolidation of Democracy in East-Central Europe, (chapters
on individual countries)
Gebethner, “PR vs. Majoritarian Systems: Free Elections and Political Parties in Poland”
in Lijphart & Waisman, eds. Institutional Design in New Democracies
Wiatr, “Executive-Legislative Relations in Crisis” in Liphart & Waisman, eds.
Institutional Design in New Democracies
Shugart, “Politicians, Parties, and Presidents” in Crawford & Lijphart, eds. Liberalization
and Leninist Legacies
Orenstein. “A Genealogy of Communist Successor Parties in East Central Europe and the
Determinants of their Success.” East European Politics and Societies 12:3 (Fall
1998).
McAdams, Transitional Justice and the Rule of Law in New Democracies
Helga Welsh, "Dealing with the Communist Past: Central and East European Experiences
after 1990," Europe-Asia Studies, 48:3 (May 1996)
Week 11 (Nov 19)
Winners & Losers: Ethnicity, Gender, and Age in the Transitions
Plasser et al, Democratic Consolidation in East Central Europe, Chs. 11-12 (bb)
Fonseca, Bury me Standing
supplemental:
Barany & Moser, Ethnic Politics After Communism
Ringold, Dena, Roma and the Transition in Central and Eastern Europe: Trends and
Challenges (2000, online at World Bank)
Michael Johns "Do as I Say, Not as I Do: The European Union, Eastern Europe and
Minority Rights “ East European Politics and Societies 2003 17: 682-699
Caius Dobrescu “Conflict and Diversity in East European Nationalism, on the Basis of a
Romanian Case Study” East European Politics and Societies 2003 17: 393-414
Vladimir Tismaneanu, Fantasies of Salvation: Democracy, Nationalism and Myth in
Post-Communist Europe (1998)
Castle, Marjorie. “The Post-Communist Identity and East European Politics” in Identities
in Transition (1996 online)
Kligman, Gail, “Women and the Negotiation of Identity…” Identities in Transition (1996
online)
John Ishiyama “Women's Parties in Post-Communist Politics,” EEPS 2003
Funk & Muller, Gender Politics and Post-Communism
-- Thanksgiving Break –
Week 12 (Nov 26)
Becoming Part of Europe I
Vachudova, Milada, Europe Undivided (selections from intro, chs 3-8)
supplemental: Articles on Bulgarian, Romanian accession, TBA
Week 13 (Dec 3)
Becoming Part of Europe II
Schimmelfennig & Sedelmeier, Europeanization of Central and Eastern Europe
supplemental:
EEPS 17(1), (whole issue is on EU integration, expansion)
Kristi Raik “EU Accession of Central and Eastern European Countries: Democracy and
Integration as Conflicting Logics” EEPS 2004 18: 567-594
Comisso, “Implicit Development Strategies” in Enlarging Europe (1998, online)
Enlarging Europe (1998)
Poole, Europe Unites (2003), articles on individual countries, policy areas
Barany & Volgyes, Ch. 15
Data on the EU Constitution (online)
TAKE-HOME FINAL EXAM, DUE DATE TBA