Good Governance in Central and Eastern Europe: the European Union as an Anchor for Reform

• Autorzy: Herman Hoen
• Języki publikacji: EN

Abstrakty

EN

This article scrutinises the transformation processes in Central and Eastern Europe and builds on the arguments put forward in the tradition of political economy. Its basic assumptions are that designing a market economy is not to be mistaken for destroying the institutional legacy of communism - a market order is not the negation of central planning - and that mutual dependency between democratisation and market reform has a definite impact on the path of transformation. In other words, economic systems are understood as irreversible and path-dependent. One cannot simply dismantle the former regime and each step in the reform process influences the set of alternatives for the reforms that still need to be implemented. The legacy of the past is decisive. This is not to deny that the success or failure of transformation largely depends on the policies applied, but that the extent, to which these appropriate policies are feasible, is pivotal. In the remainder of this article, the validity and the consequences of these assumptions are further addressed. The following section is theoretical in nature. It centres on the (political) motives for and the impediments to market reforms. The leading thread is the political likelihood of transformation based upon assumptions of economic behaviour. Subsequently, the arguments turn to the issues of institutional change and "good governance" and the extent to which it can be furthered by external conditionality. The focus will be on the role of the European Union (EU). (fragment of text)

Słowa kluczowe

EN

Good governance; Political system; Political and economic situation; Political history; Democracy; Democratic society; Economic reforms

PL

Dobre rządzenie; System polityczny; Sytuacja polityczno-ekonomiczna; Historia polityczna; Demokracja; Społeczeństwo demokratyczne; Reformy gospodarcze

• Czasopismo: Economic and Environmental Studies
• Rocznik: 2002
• Numer: Vol. 2
• Strony: 11--27

Twórcy

autor

Herman Hoen

• Groningen University, The Netherlands

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