Challenges to democracy in Central and Eastern Europe

Abstract

The article focuses on the recent (25 years), development of democracy in Central and Eastern Europe, especially in Poland as the country in the region where the first non-communist government was established in 1989. It highlights an extremely difficult and hazardous challenge for former communist countries when tackling the process on two different levels - political and economic. The article shows how difficult it was to achieve a uniform public consensus on the chosen road to economic transformation. The governments faced many obstacles, including public apathy. It was easier to achieve social support for political changes. A common tendency in all the Central and Eastern European countries after the collapse of communist rule was a return to traditional democratic principles developed by the Western constitutionalism, i.e. the principle of separation of powers, rule of law, political pluralism, guarantees of human rights and freedoms, based on human dignity, and independence of the judiciary. It was done by adoption of new constitutions or substantial amendments to the old ones. In new democracies, however new threats have appeared, having some impact on the future of democracy and state of law in these countries, it is especially an instrumental approach to the law. Article shows it by example of lustration laws. Despite all the difficulties, post-communists Central European countries has undertaken important structural reforms in political and economic area which helped them “to return to Europe”.

Keywords

• Democracy
• transformation
• constitution
• rule of law
• separation of powers
• lustration.