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1051. Frameworks for Security and Integration in Europe: Region-Building in South-Eastern Europe

Author:
Dr. Renata Dwan and Dr. Andrew Cottey
Publication Date:
11-1997
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
EastWest Institute
Abstract:
In 1997-98 the Institute for EastWest Studies (IEWS) is running two projects on means for strengthening cooperation in Europe. The 'Strategy Group for Strengthening Cooperation in Central and Eastern Europe' is a series of meetings funded by the European Union's PHARE/TACIS Democracy Programme. Ten meetings and workshops will examine the diverse range of security problems facing the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and possible cooperative solutions to these problems. The Strategy Group brings together representatives of the Central and Eastern European Associates of the European Union and Ukraine (and Western states and neighbouring countries where appropriate). Participants in Strategy Group conferences and workshops come from diverse backgrounds, including (but not limited to) governmental representatives, politicians, business people, academics and non-governmental representatives. IEWS is joined in organizing this Strategy Group series by the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA).
Topic:
Security, Development, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Europe, Ukraine, Eastern Europe, and Maryland

1052. The Origins of Hungary's 1989 Electoral Law

Author:
John W. Schiemann and Kenneth Benoit
Publication Date:
05-1997
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
Theories which explain the origins of institutions as the product of struggles for distributive advantage provide only a general framework with no conceptualization of the bargaining process and few applications to empirical cases. We address both problems and extend the distributive theory of institutional origins by drawing on a unique set of data to examine the creation of the Hungarian electoral law of 1989. Arguing that outcomes are shaped by four mechanisms arising from bargaining - time preferences, the credibility of threats and promises, mimicked fairness, and symmetrical division - we develop observable implications of these mechanisms and test them empirically by analyzing the bargaining which produced the multiple rules of Hungary's complex electoral system. Not only does the Hungarian case confirm the bargaining mechanism theory of institutional origins, but the theory also explains many curious features of the Hungarian electoral institutions, including its surprising combination of extraordinary complexity and unusual stability.
Topic:
Democratization and Government
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe

1053. Organizing Diversity: Evolutionary Theory, Network Analysis, & Postsocialist Transformations

Author:
Gernot Grabher and David Stark
Publication Date:
01-1996
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Abstract:
In contrast to the dominant transition framework that examines organizational forms in Eastern Europe according to the degree to which they conform to or depart from the blueprints of already existing capitalisms, this essay exam ines the innovative character. born of necessity. in whicb actors in the postsocialist setting are restructured by re defining and recombining resources. Instead of conceiving these recombinations as accidental aberrations. it explores their evolutionary potentials. Its starting premise is that the actual unit of entrepreneurshp is not the isolated indi vidual personality but the social networks that link firms and the actors within them. Drawing on recent develop ments in evolutionary theory. it cautions that although all-encompassing privatization and marketization might fos ter adaptation in the short run. the consequent loss of organizational diversity will impede adaptability in the long run. *This essay was written while David Stark was a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences sup­ported by grants from the National Science Foundation #SES-9022192 and from the U.S. Department of State Title VIII Funds Grant #1006-304101. Our thanks to Bill Barnett, Pascal Boyer, Geoff Fougere, Istvan Gabor, Szabolcs Kemeny, Ger ald McDermott, and Monique Djokic Stark for their criticisms of an earlier draft. Address correspondence to David Stark Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, 202 Junipero Serra Blvd., Stanford CA 94305 (or to stark@casbs. stanford.edu).
Topic:
Diversity, Network Analysis, Post-Communism, and Democratic Transitions
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe

1054. The Break-Up of Czechoslovakia: The Impact of Party Development on the Separation of the State

Author:
Abby Innes
Publication Date:
01-1996
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Abstract:
When Czechoslovakia separated into two independent republics on January 1, 1993, it was hailed as the "velvet divorce." Relief that a European "ethnic" conflict had been resolved without physical aggression was apparently so deep as to have blunted curiosity about the real issues underlying the conflict. This paper looks back into the file and, in particular, explores the impact of party political developments on efforts to mediate some form of constitutional compromise. The analysis is not intended as an account of the separation (which would necessarily delve deep into historical, cultural, and economic questions). The more specific aim is to consider the issues and institutional pressures that dominated party development between 1989 and 1993, and to evaluate their contribution to the split. The article concludes that the profoundly unpopular decision to separate the country emanated from irreconcilable views on the correct "transition" path rather than a deeply rooted nationalism on either side. Moreover, both Czech and Slovak electorates were, to a striking degree, "held hostage" to party choices of economic policy and a common state, presented as mutually exclusive possibilities.
Topic:
Politics, Ethnicity, Political Parties, and Post-Communism
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Czechoslovakia

1055. The Democratic Control Of Armed Forces

Author:
Rudolf Joo
Publication Date:
02-1996
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
European Union Institute for Security Studies
Abstract:
Political control of armed forces is not a problem that has confronted only liberal democracies of the twentieth century. Even less is it an issue challenging only the democratizing societies of Central and Eastern Europe in the l990s. The crucial dilemma -- that a separate armed body established in order to protect a society might pose a threat to that same society -- goes back to antiquity. The ever-relevant question of who guards the guards was a central issue in Plato's dialogue The Republic, written about 2,500 years ago. Plato, in presenting what he considered to be the right order of society, described the military state as a deviation. Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire were both confronted with the dilemma `sed quis custodiet ipsos Custodes?' The question has remained the same over the centuries, but as armed forces and society have changed, the nature of the problem has also changed.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, Democratization, and Government
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe and Greece

1056. Confidence and Security in the Balkans: The Role of Transparency in Defence Budgeting

Author:
Tilcho K. Ivanov
Publication Date:
11-1996
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute for Security and International Studies (ISIS)
Abstract:
The Balkan security is a measure and a means for guaranteeing an acceptable level of economic welfare, human freedoms and stable peace for the states in the subregion and for the whole of Europe. The traditional views of a military concept about the building of state's security systems (by means of defending their integrity, sovereignty and independence) are focused on the usage of power in the international relations. If we take a deeper look into the Balkan security problem we will see that these views are getting more and more irrelevant to the new strategic environment. Though the military fundamental does not disappear, it gives way to other determinants. It is getting more and more obvious that the erosion of the economic and the social public tissue eats away the traditional institutions of the law, of the power and of the statehood. It also aggravates the building of modern civil society. The economic and social destabilization leads to the escalation of crises and conflicts, that pass over the reasonable political and legal limits. The acute clash of interests takes the uncivilized guise of genocide, ethnic cleansing, terrorism and other crimes against humanity. In the new strategic conditions security means more than territory and sovereignty. Economic security and welfare and the protection of civil rights begin to dominate subregional security. More and more often we also add to the latter the problems of national and transnational security. These three factors form the foundations of the stable regional development concept. When we combine them with the opportunities for technological transfer they give us the real measure of social development, there by contributing to keep crises under control, to prevent conflicts and to build peace.
Topic:
Security, Defense Policy, and Budget
Political Geography:
Europe, Eastern Europe, and Balkans

1057. Social Rights Under State Socialism? Pensions & Housing in Hungarian Welfare State Development

Author:
Phineas Baxandall
Publication Date:
01-1995
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Abstract:
Social rights are different in Eastern Europe than in the West. Their legacy reflects the very different relationship between state and citizen, and the more instrumental use of law under state socialism. This paper develops a model for distinguishing between different forms of social rights, not only in the West, but also as the concept might be applied to different periods of state socialism. A typology of different social rights is offered, and the lasting legacies of such rights are examined in Hungarian pension and housing policy since 1949. The paper is organized in four parts: 1) There is discussion of previous approaches to interpreting social rights in Eastern Europe. 2) A rough model is suggested to distinguish between varying conceptions of social rights along two dimensions: their relative emphasis on substantive or procedural justice, and on the negative or positive definition of the state's obligation to fulfill these rights. The result is four classifications of rights. The reigning Anglo-Saxon conception of social rights is thereby distinguished not only from the view employed by western welfare state advocates, but also from the Classical Communist logic and a Late Socialist form that is most relevant to contemporary Hungary. 3) It is argued that the informality of rights that was so central to the Late Socialist welfare state has in many ways been reinforced by the process of transformation from state socialism. 4) Housing and pension policy are used to illustrate the Hungarian rights legacy and how it continues to influence social policy.
Topic:
Welfare, Housing, Pension, Social Rights, and State Socialism
Political Geography:
Europe, Eastern Europe, and Hungary

1058. Restructuring in the Czech Republic- Beyond Ownership & Bankruptcy

Author:
Gerald A. McDermott and Aydin Hayri
Publication Date:
01-1995
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Abstract:
Restructuring of large industrial holdings in the Czech Republic (S-farms) depends on probes into new markets. The development and financing of probes generates internal holdups and stalemates among the government, banks, and S firms. The government tries to preserve the value of just-privatized S-firms while avoiding subsidies; banks, facing their delinquency, cannot force bankruptcy since keeping them as clients is as important as maintaining capital ade quacy. A compromise arises, 1MBR (intricate monitoring based restructuring), where the outside parties condition their involvement on a peculiar reorganization of the farm. We provide the empirical and theoretical underpinnings of IMBR, the emergence of which is neither deliberate nor accidental. (Keywords; Restructuring, privatization, incom plete contracts, monitoring) ·We use aliases for the names of their companies and their managers to protect their privacy. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Ford Foundation Conference on CR transition at CERGE-EI. Prague CR. May 1994. '!The research was conducted at CERGE-EI. Prague CR. where Hayri was a visiting professor and McDermott is a visiting re searcher. McDermott's dissertation research was supported by generous grants from the US-CR Fulbright Commission and the Center for European Studies. Harvard University. The authors would like to thank CERGE-EI for its gracious administra tive support and hospitality and the following people for insightful comments and help: Suzanne Berger. Ales Capek. Zhi­yuan Cui. Jeremy Edwards. John Griffin, Miroslav Hrncir. Mike Jetton. Tony Levitas, Richard Locke. Ivana MazaIkova, Gerard Roland. Charles Sabel, David Stark. Frantisek Turnovec, and participants in a seminar at the University of Warwick.
Topic:
Privatization, Industry, Farming, Ownership, Debt Restructuring, and Bankruptcy
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe and Czech Republic

1059. Governing Enterprises in Transition Economies: The Problem of Mixed Ownership in the Czech Republic

Author:
Raj M. Desai
Publication Date:
01-1995
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies, Harvard University
Abstract:
This paper examines how formerly state-owned enterprises are governed in a post-Communist economy. Privatization was intended to clarify ownership rights by making private property the basis for productive relations. Inreality, gov ernments still own substantial percentages of share capital in "privatized" enterprises. and the question of who controls the company often remains unclear. Two dimensions of emerging corporate-governance structures are examined for enterprises under joint public-private ownership: contract enforcement and the influence of the state-as shareholder. The main argument is that these structures are determined according to government-investor negotiations over how to relinquish control of firms and privatize their cash flows, and proceeds in two steps. First, state authori ties and prospective investors commit to the terms of privatization. Second, instruments of contract enforcement and state influence emerge from these commitments through bargaining. Evidence from two industry cases in the Czech Republic-steel and petrochemicals-shows that contract-enforcement is delegated to a third party when a govern ment cannot credibly commit to all the privatization terms desired ex ante by investors who prefer long-term, Jarge bloc equities; additionally, the state's fiduciary influence will be limited if ministries and property agencies are politically unified. Delegating contractual responsibility while limiting state discretion will make progress in estab lishing property rights. • An earlier version of this paper was delivered at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Chi cago. September 1995 .. The author is grateful for comments from Peter Hall. Joel Hellman. Grzegorz Ekiert, and the par ticipants of the Seminar on Post-Communist Institutions (Russian Research Center). and the Workshop on East European Politics (Center for European Studies). Harvard University.
Topic:
Governance, Industry, Ownership, Post-Communism, and Democratic Transitions
Political Geography:
Europe, Eastern Europe, and Czech Republic

1060. The Historical Roots of Environmental Conflict in Estonia

Author:
Matthew Auer
Publication Date:
01-1995
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Security Studies at Yale University
Abstract:
"Estonia's environment and nature are special," the Estonian scholar observed, as we sipped coffee in a dingy cafe in Tallinn. "But to them," he said, lowering his voice, and nodding slightly toward a table of Russian-speakers, "it means nothing. To a Russian, the environment is a 100-meter square area around him and his home. He does not care...no, it's more simple—he is not aware of my country's environment."
Topic:
Conflict Resolution and Environment
Political Geography:
Russia and Eastern Europe