ABSTRACT
History shows that stable and peaceful democracy has survived in most of Western Europe in spite of the many theories predicting that it was under threat from irresistible social and economic forces. The populations of Western European states have also maintained their faith in democracy, even strengthening it in the post-war period. The endemic conflicts which democracy has to manage may always end up by involving its procedures and institutions and discrediting the system itself. The post-war politics of Western Europe and the current politics of Central and Eastern Europe are comparable in an odd and surprising way. Perhaps it would be better to compare Central and Eastern Europe now with Western Europe after 1945 when it emerged from a period of foreign occupation and anti-democratic government, and faced acute economic problems. If some Central-Eastern nations compare not unfavourably with some Western nations, despite their different stages of development, then future prospects for democracy are good.
