Subversive Institutions

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Based on a series of controlled comparisons among regimes and states, Valerie Bunce's book argues that two factors account for the remarkable collapse of the socialist dictatorships in Europe from 1989-1992: the institutional design of socialism as a regime, a state and a bloc, and the rapid expansion during the 1980s of opportunities for domestic and international change. Together, these two factors explain not just why socialist regimes and states ended, but also why the process was peaceful in some cases and violent in others. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1. The collapse of socialism and socialist states; 2. Domestic socialism: monopoly and deregulation; 3. Federalism and the Soviet Bloc: monopoly and deregulation; 4. Leaving socialism; 5. Leaving the state; 6. Violent versus peaceful state dismemberment; 7. Institutions and opportunities: constructing and deconstructing regimes and states.