ABSTRACT
Do post-Communist democracies use marketplace consumption as a tool to express political demands and preferences? Over the past thirty years, our world has witnessed drastic transformations in political regimes and economic markets, from the growth of democracy worldwide to the phenomenon of economic globalization. In the transition from communism to democracy following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the former Communist countries created from the remnants of the Soviet Bloc transitioned from totalitarian governmental systems with little citizen input into young-and-fledgling democracies with new opportunities for citizen engagement for the first time in decades. Eastern Europe's transition to democracy also led to radical economic changes, from markets that were closely state controlled into emerging forms of capitalism and open markets that privatized many businesses and introduced foreign investments. This major transformation of the Soviet region occurred during the heyday of worldwide market globalization, creating an interesting dynamic for markets and consumers all over the planet, especially in these new economies. As the introduction of new goods from around the world provides consumers with more choices than ever, consumers now wield unprecedented power in spending their dollars.
