"Prof. Liebich depicts not only the history of post-communist regimes in Central-East Europe, but also these states' internal agendas and transformative debates. This book lives that history through telling it once again, thus challenging accepted prejudices." (Adrian Liviu Ivan, Professor, Babes-Bolyai University, Romania) "East Central Europe is again on the news. After the fall of the Berlin Wall the region was hailed as a liberal champion; now it is scorned as an illiberal one. This seemingly puzzling metamorphosis is explained in a thoughtful and entertaining way by a leading historian of the region. I highly recommend Liebich's book to all those interested in European politics and history." (Jan Zielonka, Professor of European Politics, University of Oxford (UK), and Professor of Politics and International Relations, University of Venice, Cá Foscari (Italy)) "Moving from the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 to the present day, this book traces the trajectory of the six East Central European former satellites of the Soviet Union (Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria) that have joined the European Union. It seeks in particular to explain these countries' disenchantment with the "return to Europe" in spite of their significant advances. The book proceeds country by country and then devotes chapters to some contemporary issues, such as minorities, migration, and the relations of these "new" members with the European Union as a whole. The book eschews theory and is intended for a general audience, including students at all levels in political science and history classes devoted to the EU and to contemporary Europe, and to an academic and practitioner audience interested in world affairs and the evolution of the European Union. The book strives to fill a persistent knowledge gap in the English-speaking world concerning East Central Europe, and to offer fresh insights about the region in the context of contemporary geopolitics." (André Liebich is Honorary Professor of International History and Politics at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Switzerland).

Moving from the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 to the present day, this book traces the trajectory of the six East Central European former satellites of the Soviet Union (Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria) that have joined the European Union. It seeks in particular to explain these countries’ disenchantment with the “return to Europe” in spite of their significant advances. The book proceeds country by country and then devotes chapters to some contemporary issues, such as minorities, migration, and the relations of these “new” members with the European Union as a whole. The book eschews theory and is intended for a general audience, including students at all levels in political science and history classes devoted to the EU and to contemporary Europe, and to an academic and practitioner audience interested in world affairs and the evolution of the European Union. The book strives to fill a persistent knowledge gap in the English-speaking world concerning East Central Europe, and to offer fresh insights about the region in the context of contemporary geopolitics.

Rebirth: A History of Europe Since World War II examines the transition of Europe from a period of crisis to an era of political confidence and economic strength. As the title suggests, the pervasive theme of the book is that of rebirth. The most recent decades are set in the context of modern European history as a whole. The authors trace the disillusionment and uncertainty that overcame Europe at the turn of the twentieth century and that culminated in the devastation of the Second World War. In their analysis of the political and economic causes of the renaissance that has followed the demise of the Cold War, the authors highlight the themes of national integration and economic modernization.The chapters are uniquely organized to present both international and domestic developments in Europe as coherent wholes as well as the importance of their interaction. The initial analysis of key international developments in the twentieth century helps students to understand the relationship between foreign and domestic events and provides background for the substantial discussion of the major European countries that follows in chapters devoted to each national experience. The political and economic histories of these nation-states are considered in terms of their individual traditions and challenges, and the authors explore difficult issues such as the overall costs and benefits of the scientific-technological revolution, the pursuit of social justice, the proper role of the state and of political parties, and contrasting national paths of economic and political development.Rebirth is designed as a text for use in courses on modern European history ? especially twentieth-century Europe ? and for students of comparative politics who are seeking a substantial consideration of the historical factors of European politics. In this revised edition, the authors have updated the text with an analysis of developments since 1991 and added recent scholarship to the lists of Suggested Readings.

Scholarly interpretations of the collapse of communism and developments thereafter have tended to be primarily concerned with people's need to rid themselves of the communist system, of their past. The expectations, dreams, and hopes that ordinary Eastern Europeans had when they took to the streets in 1989, and have had ever since, have therefore been overlooked - and our understanding of the changes in post-communist Europe has remained incomplete. Focusing primarily on five key areas, such as the heritage of 1989 revolutions, ambivalence, disillusionment, individualism, and collective identities, this book explores the expectations and goals that ordinary Eastern Europeans had during the 1989 revolutions and the decade thereafter, and also the problems and disappointments they encountered in the course of the transformation. The analysis is based on extensive interviews with university students and young intellectuals in the Czech Republic, Eastern Germany and Estonia in the 1990s, which in themselves have considerable value as historical documents.

Peters and Hunold (American politics at the U. of Pittsburgh and political science at Drexel U., respectively) analyze changes in European politics and their consequences on the workplace, voting, foreign policy, models of reform, and other issues. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES AND WASHINGTON POST BESTSELLER A call to action from three of Washington's premier political scholar-journalists, One Nation After Trump offers the definitive work on the threat posed by the Trump presidency and how to counter it. American democracy was never supposed to give the nation a president like Donald Trump. We have never had a president who gave rise to such widespread alarm about his lack of commitment to the institutions of self-government, to the norms democracy requires, and to the need for basic knowledge about how government works. We have never had a president who raises profound questions about his basic competence and his psychological capacity to take on the most challenging political office in the world. Yet if Trump is both a threat to our democracy and a product of its weaknesses, the citizen activism he has inspired is the antidote. The reaction to the crisis created by Trump’s presidency can provide the foundation for an era of democratic renewal and vindicate our long experiment in self-rule. The award-winning authors of One Nation After Trump explain Trump’s rise and the danger his administration poses to our free institutions. They also offer encouragement to the millions of Americans now experiencing a new sense of citizenship and engagement and argue that our nation needs a unifying alternative to Trump’s dark and divisive brand of politics—an alternative rooted in a New Economy, a New Patriotism, a New Civil Society, and a New Democracy. One Nation After Trump is the essential book for our era, an unsparing assessment of the perils facing the United States and an inspiring roadmap for how we can reclaim the future.

In this new edition, Patricia Hogwood and Geoffrey Roberts offer a comprehensive introduction to the political systems and processes of Western Europe. The book begins with an overview of the features and events that have shaped the political landscape of Europe up to the end of the 20th century. The authors go on to discuss liberal democracy, historical sources of conflict between countries, electoral systems, political parties and interest groups, governments and parliaments. The final section looks at federalism and EU decision-making and concludes with a consideration of how liberal democracies in western Europe have attempted to provide stable government while remaining responsive to changes in society. This book has been fully updated to take account of the French, British and Italian general elections that have occurred in recent years, as well as the momentous changes that have taken place in global politics as a result 9/11, and the preparations for EU enlargement. The chapters on the European Union and democracy in Western Europe have also been substantially revised to take account of globalization and recent political corruption issues.