ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the examination of the political processes affecting and the prospects of achieving institutional reform in post-communist East Central Europe. It reviews the dominant contemporary scholarly approaches-the "transitions" school and the "Leninist legacy" school-to the study of political change and democratization. Following World War II scholars in comparative politics began to focus significant academic energy on the study of democratization. The political development tradition did identify important social factors, including the necessity of free media that are necessary to sustain democracy. The role of information is critical, for instance, to each of Dahl's three requirements for democracy-that citizens can formulate, express, and expect response to their preferences. The political development scholarship has generated our understanding of the conditions conducive to democracy. As for creating democracy, however, the implicit logic of the development approach indicates that the creation of these conditions will yield democracy.
