ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to assess the prospects for liberal democracy in Eastern Europe. It examines this issue by defining clearly what is meant by a liberal democratic political system. The chapter provides an assessment of the assets and liabilities of the new regimes with respect to their capacity to become liberal democracies. Liberal democracy can be understood as a political system which is the mirrored opposite of state socialism. Liberal democracy provides certainty in political procedures because it features rule of law, rational bureaucracies and a relatively clear and a relatively durable definition of what constitutes the rights and responsibilities of citizens, public officials and political institutions. The history of Eastern Europe could be said to have laid some very crucial groundwork indeed for political liberalization, if not liberal democracy. The reformers in Eastern Europe are forced to construct a new political order with bits and pieces of the old political order in place.
