ABSTRACT
More than a quarter of a century has passed since Zbigniew Brzezinski and Samuel P. Huntington first published their celebrated rebuttal of the theory of postindustrial convergence. This chapter reviews question of post-Leninist pluralism and convergence. Finding little cause for optimism in the post-Stalinist bureaucratization of one-party rule, or in Nikita Khrushchev's advocacy of a more humane, consumer-oriented "goulash communism," Brzezinski and Huntington held out scant hope for the emergence of Western-style pluralism or democratiza-ton behind the iron curtain. The Chinese government's veneer of self-confidence suffered a damaging blow when the "gentle revolution" swept into Romania. Unlike other European communist regimes, Romania's hardliners defied the mobilized masses, drew a line in the sand, and invoked military force to underline their determination to resist change. Nevertheless, and despite their relative youth, education, and sophistication, third echelon cadres are not necessarily overwhelmingly pro-democratic or pro-Western in their political outlook.
