POST-COMMUNIST TRANSFORMATION AFTER 2004: CASES OF POLAND AND HUNGARY

Abstract

INTRODUCTION The last years have showed that post-communist countries, which generally completed transition from one system to another, face serious political, social and ethno-national problems. This confirms an idea, that Central Europe keeps originality in creation of democratic institutes. Despite the process of European integration, it continues to differ from the Western Europe. As Gallup stated from all regions of the world Central Europe is the most sceptical of the thesis that democracy is the best form of rule. Professor of Poznan University M. Zhulkovski notes pragmatism of his country approach: majority of Poles believe that democracy is useful only when it brings prosperity; much less they value the freedom associated with democracy. Even after 2004 up to 52% of Poles tended to authoritarianism. Only 10% of the population participates in the civil society`s activities; this is the lowest index in Central Europe. Famous Polish sociologist A. Ryhard in his study of new phraseology of political life concluded that institutions do not arise from nothing; they are rooted in the culture. For Poland the roots of its democratic values remain quite weak. Ryhard even considers that maybe here, in Central Europe, a new model of democracy is emerging, which includes elements of populism, authoritarianism, and “democratic majority”. He concluded that the “new institutional system was formed with the own logic of development, identity, structure, recreation ability and connection mechanism. As a rule, this system is reflected in term “post-communism”. He means that the concept of “postcommunism” is not normative, but descriptive. The aim of the work is to reveal the special features of “postcommunist” countries after their accession to the European Union in 2004. The main method is case-study (Poland and Hungary).