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Democracy and poverty: The implementation of social reforms in the countries of central and eastern Europe
Author(s) -
Dellenbrant J.Å.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of social welfare
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.664
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1468-2397
pISSN - 0907-2055
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-2397.1993.tb00031.x
Subject(s) - authoritarianism , politics , poverty , planned economy , democracy , political economy , political science , development economics , latin americans , economic reform , standard of living , economic system , economics , economic growth , law
Why has the political and economic transformation in Russia and central and eastern Europe been accompanied by deteriorating living standards? Many of the reform programmes have contained social elements, but these have been neglected in the implementation process. Certain barriers to change – mental, cultural, political and economic – have made the implementation difficult. Russia and central and eastern Europe have to pass through a problematic dual transformation, from authoritarianism to democracy and from centrally planned economies to market economies. Experiences from Latin America show that such transitions are virtually impossible. The social results from the transformations in central and eastern Europe have been disappointing, which has been documented by scholars in this field. Nevertheless, if the political and economic transformation processes continue, the prospectes for the future are relatively bright. But there is also a negative scenario with authoritarianism and civil war as endpoints. A more cautious transition to a market economy might improve social welfare and living standards.