Lecture: “The Diffusion of Electoral Change in Postcommunist Europe and Eurasia, 1996–2005.” Presented by Valerie Bunce, an Aaron Binkenkorb Professor of International Studies, a Professor of Government and the Chair of the Government Department at Cornell University.
From 1996–2005, eight countries in the post-communist region served as sites for elections that led to the defeat of dictators and the victory of the liberal opposition. The wave of electoral change reflected three influences: powerful and positive precedents in the neighborhood, similarities between “exporting” and “adopting” countries, and the spread of transnational networks supporting electoral change. Central to this dynamic, however, was the electoral model of democratization—a model that was invented elsewhere, but that was highly amenable to implementation in the post-communist region.
Co-sponsored by the Kellogg Institute for International Studies and the Nanovic Institute for European Studies.