Politics in Central and Eastern Europe

Central and Eastern Europe – a region which some 25 years ago used to be a closed block with communist totalitarian rule under Soviet influence consists nowadays of democratic market economies most of which have joined the EU and NATO or are negotiating to become members. But developments in countries of this region keep catching the news and posing multiple questions. In 2014, Hungary’s Prime Minister declared to supporters that he wants to build an illiberal state on national foundations. What is the meaning of ‘Orbanisation’ in Hungary and is it an exceptional case in the region? Did Poland embark on a similar route recently? Nine years after the Orange revolution, the Euromaidan and its opponents in Ukraine presented politically divided country on the border between Russia and Europe. But latent ethno-religious conflict is also a legacy in states beyond Ukraine, such as the Baltic republics, not to speak of former Yugoslavia. Citizen disillusionment with political rule has also been rather prominent elsewhere. In early 2013, the Bulgarian cabinet resigned following citizen outrage (including self-immolations) about high electricity prices and mafia-style governance. A few months ago, after some 60 deaths from a nightclub fire in Bucharest and under the motto ‘Corruption Kills’ Romanians urged their government to resign. The core questions this course aims to tackle are: What are the flaws of contemporary democracies in Central and Eastern Europe and how did they come about? First, developments in different thematic areas will be reviewed across the whole region. The focus will lay on topics such as elections and parties, executive leadership, representation and civil society among others. The question to what extent comparisons across the region are meaningful will also be considered. Second, students will carry out small projects focused on single countries and single challenges facing these countries (e.g. corruption or ethnonational conflict). The goal will be to understand the nature of the problem, the reasons behind its occurrence and persistence, and the obstacles hindering its resolution. Finally, the course will conclude with a general discussion based on a comparison of the findings from the individual student projects. Leistungsanforderungen: - Studienleistung: Participation in in-class discussions and presentation (Referat) of individual project - Prüfungsleistung: Research paper (Hausarbeit) building on the contents of the presentation, deadline: 21.08.2016 Politikwissenschaft, Master of Arts M V Universität Hannover SoSe 2016 Dr. Alexandrova Petrova Petya