External Factors in Political Transition in Eastern Europe: Democratization Through Convergence

Abstract

The ways post-communist countries develop are fundamentally different. The democratic transition that began in these countries almost simultaneously resulted in the formation of various political regimes in the post-communist space after more than 25 years of transformation – from consolidated democracies in Central and Eastern Europe and the Baltics, to openly autocratic political regimes in Asian republics, Belarus and Russia. Some authors believe that it is the ”distance to Brussels” that determines the level of democracy development in post-communist countries. But the “distance to Moscow” determines political transition too. That is, the depth of integration with Brussels, on the one hand, and Moscow, on the other, determines the quality of a political regime. All this gives grounds for the hypothesis that convergence can both stimulate democratization processes and cause their regression. So, my research sought to addresses such questions: What impact did external factors in their politics? Why convergence processes are so important for democratic transition post-communist countries of East Europe? What factors explain patterns and differences? The author pays attention to the nature of exogenous influences in the East Europe countries, which are located between two centers of power – big geopolitical players – the EU and Russia. Also, author analyzes the impact of convergence process on political transition in Ukraine as very specific case of political transition.