1st Edition

Social Capital and the Transition to Democracy

Edited By Gabriel Badescu, Eric Uslaner Copyright 2003

    The concept of social capital has been used by political scientists to explain both the transition to democracy in Eastern Europe and the decline of social cohesion in Western societies. This edited collection presents the latest quantitative research on how post-communist countries are adapting to Western models of society. The book combines theoretical and institutional analysis with detailed case-studies looking at Russia, Poland, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Romania and the former East Germany.

    1. Gabriel Badescu and Eric M. Uslaner Introduction 2. Hajdeja Iglic Trust Networks and Democratic Transition: Yugoslavia in the Mid-1980s 3. Henk Flap and Beate Völker Communist Societies, The Velvet Revolution and Weak Ties: The Case of East Germany 4. Nicolas Hayoz and Victor Sergeyev Social Networks in Russian Politics 5. James L. Gibson Social Networks, Civil Society and the Prospects for Consolidating Russia's Democratic Transition 6. Eric M. Uslaner Trust and Civic Engagement in East and West 7. Kathleen M. Dowley and Brian D. Silver Social Capital and Support for Democracy in the Post-Communist States 8. Gabriel Badescu Social Trust and Democratization in the Post-Communist Societies 9. Jeffery J. Mondak and Adam F. Gearing Civic Engagement in a Post-Communist State 10. Marc Morjé Howard Why Post-Communist Citizens do not Join Voluntary Organizations 11. Jerzy Bartkowski Social Capital in Poland 12. Richard Rose and Craig Weller What does Social Capital Add to Democratic Values? 13. Eric M. Uslaner and Gabriel Badescu Legacies and Conflicts: The Challenges to Social Capital in the Democratic Transition

    Biography

    Gabriel Badescu is Associate Professor of Political Science at the Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Eric M. Uslaner is Professor of Government and Political at the University of Maryland, College Park.