ABSTRACT
The Stalinist and neo-Stalinist system of government was imposed on Eastern Europe by the leading member of the Soviet bloc. It was a centralized and authoritarian system that was capable of transformation only within boundaries defined by the ruling communist parties. The revolution of 1989–90 was a byproduct of a permanent legitimacy crisis in Eastern Europe compounded by a series of serious political and economic mistakes. In the aftermath of the anticommunist revolution, a new process of evolution away from the Stalinist system has been entered upon, in which the party systems of Eastern Europe have undergone profound change, as new cleavages have appeared and old cleavages have reasserted themselves.
