Building democratic institutions: East and West Lecturer: A. Dimitrova

Type :

Presentation

Pages :

6 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

01/15/2009

Category :

Political science

Sub category :

Political science

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Summary :

Introduction.
Making democracy work: Civic traditions of modern Italy by Robert Putnam.
Putnam's idea that post-communist states should be affected by a 'vicious circle'.
Social capital networks during socialism.
The case-study of Novgorod the Great (north-western Russian city).
Ukrainian Orange Revolution 2004: Tllustration of Tong's idea that social capital can emerge from the bottom.
Conclusion.
Bibliography.

Abstract

The accession in May 2004 of eight countries from eastern Europe to the European Union and the future membership of Romania and Bulgaria in 2007 tends to show the importance, for these post-communist states, to find a new order and to gain more stability and security. Indeed, the end of the Cold War liberates eastern and Central Europe from communism, but the road to efficient democracy is still long. Membership of the European Union or NATO seems to be a fundamental element for the stabilization process. Nonetheless, external aid (money, settlement of non-governmental organisations...) is not enough and some scholars believe in a more bottom-up way to build democracy. Such is the case with Robert Putnam, who underlined in his works the importance of a civil community (or social capital) capable of developing and strengthening institutions and consequently of building democracy. After explaining the theory of Putnam more in depth, we will discuss if he is right in saying that a sufficient stock of social capital is necessary for the success of democracy when it applies to eastern Europe.