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Systems Change in the Socialist Bloc in 1989

The latesummer and fall of 1989 witnessed and continue to witness dramatic and rapid change in most socialist bloc countries. The western press, ever adversarial, cover the events as if they were a supreme sporting event, such as the Davis Cup, wherein one system is about to be vanquished by another. The Associated Press proclaimed "Going, going . . . . . . . Communism almost gone" (Revel, 1989, E1). In all probability, the press is correctone system is about to vanquish another. The problems with their analysis are that they have failed to (1) correctly identify either of the systems involved, (2) accurately identify the likely structure of the changes which will occur, (3) recognize that changes which do occur will not likely be uniform in all socialist countries, and (4) recognize the factors which could lead to a moderation of the change occurring in some socialist countries. This research examines the direction of change occurring in most of the socialist bloc countries, with a view toward assessing these factors which the majority of the western press has overlooked.

SYSTEMS CHANGE IN THE SOCIALIST BLOC

First and foremost, the political change occurring in the socialist bloc in the summer and fall of 1989 is a rejection of

1 2oneparty rule. Change of this type occurs periodically in western democracies, when one political party has held power for an extended period of time. Canada is a good example. During the twentieth century, the Liberal Party parliamentary majorities have often extended beyond 10 years in succession. Eventually, the Canadian electorate has enough, and votes in the Torys for a term or two, before returning a Liberal majority. Japan is another example, where the ruling Liberal Democratic Party is seeing its postSecond World War parliamentary majority threatened for the first time.

In the socialist bloc, the situation is somewhat different, because Communist Party parliament...

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Systems Change in the Socialist Bloc in 1989. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 03:21, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1691363.html