ABSTRACT
The initial configuration of elites proved crucial for the process of democratic consolidation across Eastern Europe. The significant differences between individual countries notwithstanding, these former communist satellites all experienced the collapse of their regimes and the rapid delegitimization of their old elites. New elites, however — whether within the nomenklatura or outside the structures of power altogether — could not fully seize power prior to the holding of free elections. In some Central and East European (CEE) countries, new configurations of power resulted from “negotiated revolutions” and “round table” compromises — pacts between the hardliners and reformers of the old elite on the one hand, and the moderates and radicals of the opposition on the other. These reform-minded, yet substantial regime changes have been termed “refolutions” (Garton Ash 1989).
