Contributing an impressive historical basis for path dependency analysis and the role of social capital in newly established democracies, this book offers a fascinating and ground-breaking analysis of the role of social capital in the democratic context of Eastern Europe. Focusing on Poland and Ukraine, this book fills the literature gaps for integrated empirical and theoretical research with respect to post-Communist democratization, social capital vs. democratization theory, and the case study area of Central and Eastern Europe. Suitable for students from graduate level upwards in Central and Eastern European studies, political theory and history.

Martin Åberg, Mikael Sandberg

Contents: Introduction: Social capital and post-communist democratization: a dynamic case study approach. Path Dependencies in Perspective: The regions: civic traditions and social capital; Post-war transitions. Post-Communist Patterns: Trust and political confidence in Wroclaw and L'viv; Local elites, care-taking and trust; Parties, political capital and evolution of democratic beliefs; Constitutions, political capital and trust: comparing the Polish and Ukrainian cases. Social Capital and Democracy: Lessons and Propositions: Roots of trust and paths of post-communist democratization; Appendix; Bibliography; Index.