Group 2 (1)

1.

REVOLUTION VS REFORM IN
EASTERN EUROPE: A MORE
EFFECTIVE OF LONG-TERM
DEMOCRATIC STABILITY
Presented by Maksims Mihailovs, Stepans
Bokotejs, Aleksandrs Iļjins

2.

RESEARCH
QUESTION
In Eastern Europe, in people's opinion, which
has been more effective in achieving longterm democratic stability: revolutionary
change or gradual reform?

3.

LIST OF THEORETICAL SOURCES
How to Strengthen Democratic Resilience: Five Lessons for Democratic Renewal
Nic Cheeseman, Marie-Eve Desrosiers, Licia Cianetti, and Manoel Gehrke
Institute of Slavic Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences
Hungarian Archives Institute in Moscow
The Hungarian Crisis of 1956
Plausible Theory, Unexpected Results: The Rapid Democratic Consolidation in
Central and Eastern Europe
Secondary trajectories after regime change: Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary,
and Russia

4.

RESULT OF THE THEORETICAL
PART
An analysis of post-communist transformation shows that, in the eyes of researchers, democratic
consolidation in many countries of Central and Eastern Europe was achieved exceptionally
quickly.
In the 1990s, the main Eastern European countries and the Baltic states consolidated their
democracies faster than the countries of Latin or Southern Europe, suggesting the effectiveness of
rapid transition (the primary trajectory).
While the processes in Western Europe took place in an evolutionary and gradual manner over
centuries, in Eastern Europe the transformations (political, economic, and state) took place
simultaneously. Successful and rapid consolidation was achieved thanks to factors such as the
level of modernization, the effectiveness of governance, and external actors (e.g., EU accession).
However, earlier attempts at revolutionary change (e.g., the 1956 Hungarian Revolution) were
suppressed, which, in the long run, led to the erosion of communist power and, ultimately, to a
peaceful and smooth transition (evolutionary development).

5.

THE IDEA BEHIND THE
PRACTICAL PART
Create a survey for different target groups of different ages and
genders, asking them the key question of our research: In your
opinion, which approach has contributed more effectively to longterm democratic stability in Eastern Europe?
• Revolutionary change (sudden, radical political shifts)
• Gradual reforms (step-by-step institutional and policy changes)
• Both equally
• Neither / Unsure
Also ask for examples of specific revolutions and major reforms,
and whether people consider them successful or not.

6.

PROJECT GOALS
01
The theoretical part allows us to analyze what scientists
and various authors of articles think about this, how we
use history and past events as a laboratory for our present
day.
02
The practical part will help us understand how different
age groups and different people view the reforms of
revolutions at different times, in order to analyze people's
opinions and attitudes.