ABSTRACT
Throughout the Cold War era, Eastern Europe (including the former Soviet Union) was the scholarly preserve of regional specialists and was largely excluded from mainstream social-science discourse. With the collapse of communism, however, the region has become a fashionable area to study. The change has been most evident in the burgeoning literature on recent transitions to democracy. Researchers specializing in Latin America, Southern Europe, and even Western Europe have begun to incorporate Eastern Europe into their comparative studies of democratization.
