The Downfall of Communism in Eastern and Central Europe
The Downfall of Communism in Eastern and Central Europe The shocking fall of communism in Eastern and Central Europein the late eighties was remarkable for both its rapidity and itsscope. The specifics of communism's demise varied among nations,but similarities in both the causes and the effects of theserevolutions were quite similar. As well, all of the nationsinvolved shared the common goals of implementing democraticsystems of government and moving to market economies. In each ofthese nations, the communist regimes in power were forced totransfer that power to radically different institutions than theywere accustomed to. Democracy had been spreading throughout theworld for the preceding two decades, but with a very importantdifference. While previous political transitions had seensimilar circumstances, the actual events in question hadgenerally occurred individually. In Europe, on the other hand,the shift from communism was taking place in a different contextaltogether. The peoples involved were not looking to affect anarrow set of policy reforms; indeed, what was at stake was ahyper-radical shift from the long-held communist ideology to a
Preuss notes that whenthe constitutional state gained favor in North America,it was founded on the principle of the unitary state; it was notdesigned to address the lack of national identity which is foundthroughout Europe - and which is counter to the concept of theconstitutional state (48). Put simply, the net effect of theextension of the Basic Law to all of Germany did not guaranteethe implementation of a new joint governing policy or a newconstitution for the country. Welsh, "Central and EasternEuropean countries had reached a level that was consideredconducive to the emergence of pluralistic policies" (19). Since the unification of Germany was accomplished throughaccession, it meant, strangely enough, that neither West nor EastGermany had a say in the other's decision on whether to form aunified state or what conditions such a unification would becontingent upon, respectively. As well, there was no need to create aconstitution (although many of the pitfalls of constitution-building would have been easily-avoided due to the advantagesGermany had), because the leaders of the GDR had joined theFederal Republic by accession and, accordingly, allowed its BasicLaw to be extended over their territory. The Federal Republic ofGermany's Basic Law has been the longest-lived constitution inGermany's history. "United Germany and the NewEurope. There is no denying thatthere have been many problems associated with the unification ofEast and West Germany. Preuss, "In almost all theEast and Central European countries, the collapse ofauthoritarian communist rule has released national, ethnic,religious and cultural conflicts which can not be solved bypurely economic policies" (47). There are also the issues of self-purification andcollective amnesia.
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Acceptance Essays
