ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to characterize the present Central European welfare systems, that is, those of three countries, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic. It deals with the issue of globalization in a limited dimension: the impact of international organizations on the Central European welfare system. The chapter summarizes the main features of the communist social policy and welfare system. It traces the process of formation and transformation of welfare systems in the three Central European countries since the political change of 1989, examining several determinants of the emerging welfare system in the region. The Central and East European countries have replaced the communist party-state system with a system governed by the rules of market and parliamentary democracy since 1989. Poland also introduced a health care insurance system with a number of insurance funds.
