Stubborn Structures: A Path-Dependence Explanation of Transitions in the Postcommunist Region

The formula for regime change following the collapse of the Eurasian communist regimes in 1989–1990 seemed clear: to take the step from one-party communist dictatorship with a state monopoly on property to a multi-party parliamentary democracy based on private property ownership and a market economy. However, this idea has failed in several postcommunist countries, producing sui generis regime types without further movement toward the liberal democratic ideal (Zakaria 1997; Carothers 2002; Levitsky and Way 2010).