Abstract
I have argued in this book that the research agenda of politics in post
communist Europe has been informed by democratic consolidation. I
do not contend that specific theories related to either the transition to
democracy or democratic consolidation have dominated the field. Rather,
my point is that the various arenas and approaches associated with the
general contours of the paradigm have determined the limits of the
discipline’s concerns. Even those who have found the theories of little
utility have followed the research agenda established by the paradigm.
This has provided the study of post-communist politics with a substan
tial degree of focus. At the same time, many equally important issues
have been largely ignored. The more serious problem, however, is that
scholars have tended to assume that democratization as a process is a
virtually endless one. This is accounted for by the paradigmatic short
comings of democratic consolidation, which starting from the very defi
nition of a consolidated democracy provides us with no theoretically
coherent means for judging the end of the process.