Post-1989 Political Change in the Balkan States: the Legacy of the Early Illiberal Transition Years

Post-1989 Political Change in the Balkan States: The Legacy of the Early Illiberal Transition Years Othon ANASTASAKIS* Abstract Introduction The Balkans remain one of Europe’s more In the third decade following the fall unstable and varied political landscapes, with mixed and diverse national trajectories. What of communism, the Balkans remain we see today in the Balkan political space is one of Europe’s more unstable and largely the outcome of the type of transition that varied political landscapes, with mixed these countries experienced during the 1990s, the early years of political change from one party rule and diverse national trajectories. Some to multi-party political pluralism. This paper countries are more politically stable argues that the Balkan states developed some than others, some still face legitimacy common traits in their first decade of transition: problems, and some are still struggling firstly, they maintained continuity with their communist past; secondly, they pursued an with divisive ethnic politics. What illiberal start dominated by domestic elites and we see today in the Balkan political top-down politics; and, finally, they underwent a space is largely the outcome of the collapse of their early illiberal competitive order before moving into more mainstream politics. type of transition that these countries Since then, democratic politics in the Balkans experienced during the 1990s, the early have experienced many improvements as a foundation years of political change from reaction to this illiberal start, but they have also sustained some democratic deficits which have one party rule to multi-party political a direct link to the initial illiberal years of the pluralism, when the first ‘political transition. pacts’ were made and the first political, economic and social conflicts developed. Key Words Looking at the Balkan countries’ early experience from communist Balkans, post-communist transition, totalitarianism to Western-inspired democratisation, political elites, illiberal politics. democracy, when the first foundations were laid, we are able to better appreciate * Dr. Othon Anastasakis is Director of the South both the current democratic progress and East European Studies at Oxford (SEESOX), and Director of the European Studies Centre, the consolidation of some democratic St Antony’s College, University of Oxford. deficits. 91 PERCEPTIONS, Summer 2013, Volume XVIII, Number 2, pp. 91-112. Othon Anastasakis The remainder of this paper argues the sustainability, longevity and quality that, despite significant national of the democratic process. As with the variations, the Balkan states shared previous democratising waves of the some common traits in their first years 1970s in Southern Europe and the 1980s of political transition during the early in Latin America, continuity or rupture 1990s: firstly, they all maintained with the recent past, the elite’s choices, continuity with their communist past; their calculations and miscalculations, secondly, they all pursued an illiberal and the institutional designs were central start dominated by domestic elites and to how new democracies were born top-down politics; and, finally, they all and subsequently developed.1 Similarly, underwent some kind of collapse of their the early years of transition in Eastern early illiberal competitive order before Europe from communism to democracy ‘recharging’ with reformed ideas and entailed a remarkable variety of post- more ‘mainstream’ discourses. Many of communist developments along regional the features of these early years are still or national lines, which helps explain evident today in the way domestic elites why some countries developed a more conduct their political ‘deals’, in the stable democratic process, while others way citizens react through elections or were more fragile and turned to new protests, and in the way the international forms of authoritarianism. There is, for community exercises its authority from instance, a linkage between Poland’s abroad. ensuing democratic and economic consolidation and the initial rupture Transition is a historical with its communist past and the sequence of political events policies that were adopted successfully usually associated with the in this particular economy. Similarly, last stages of authoritarian/ democratic advances and losses in other totalitarian regimes through parts of Central Europe and the Baltics to the introduction of a more are related to the type of choices that liberal pluralist system. were adopted during the initial years of their political and economic transition. It is crucial to understand the early stages Some transitions were more successful of transition to post-communist politics than others; some were more dramatic after a long period of totalitarianism and contested. and one-party rule, because it is at this Comparing the various post- stage that the foundations are laid for communist cases, one sees enough 92 Post-1989 Political Change in the Balkan States ‘drama’- to use Laurence Whitehead’s all this in mind, this paper adopts a more term2- in the Balkan countries, where parsimonious approach to transition as the transitions have been described as an uncertain process that takes place a deviation from the expected norm, during the formative years of change from or from the usual type of democratic one party rule to a pluralist competitive ‘transition and consolidation’; these have context. This is a time when the elites, been defined often in derogatory ways as government and opposition, have as ‘defective’,3 ‘delayed’,4 ‘incomplete’,5 the political space and the opportunity ‘double’ (post-communist and post- to shape the new environment, when conflict)6 transitions, or as the societies hold high expectations for ‘laggards’7 of transition. Transition from the future, and when the international authoritarianism can have different community is testing the waters for its meanings and symbolism, and has engagement and commitment. been the object of much discussion and criticism since Rustow’s analysis, The Balkan communist history when it became a central concept was far from a homogeneous for understanding political change regional experience, and and democratisation.8 From a simple entailed various types of national chronological perspective, transition communisms. is a historical sequence of political events usually associated with the last stages of authoritarian/totalitarian The following discusses three regimes through to the introduction of particular themes of the early transition a more liberal pluralist system. From experience in the Balkans and their a more deterministic and teleological national variations: firstly, the moment perspective, transition is seen as a of breakdown; secondly, elite politics process that leads to the consolidation of and the early illiberal years; and thirdly, democracy, when the latter becomes the opposition, mobilisation and crisis of only game in town. Transition can also be post-communist illiberalism. This is a seen as a Western hegemonic discourse common pattern, which was expressed of parliamentary democracy and (neo-) differently in the various Balkan states liberal reform propagated and imposed during the first years of transition, on the new democracies, and which in leaving a long-lasting imprint on how most cases legitimises some degree of new democracies developed thereafter external control and interference.9 With and what they are now. The subsequent 93 Othon Anastasakis consolidation of electoral politics, political and ideological battleground advances in many areas of freedom between the capitalist West and the and democracy, and the discrediting of communist East but, most significantly, authoritarian practices have their roots within the communist East itself. in this first period of change. Moreover, Each Balkan state developed its own the resilience of personal politics, the national brand of communism, where ephemeral nature of party ideologies, the control of the communist party and the consolidation of ethnic politics, the ideology varied, from the totalitarian impact of external dependency and the all-encompassing cases of Albania to the lack of trust from below are largely due nationalistic Romania, to the “orthodox” to these crucial illiberal formative years of communist Bulgaria, and to the more transition and post-communist change. liberal, open to the West, Yugoslavia. The 1989 revolutionary moment was 1989: The Moment of therefore a different experience in Breakdown and Regional each national environment, violent or Diversity anarchic in some, less dramatic and more peaceful in others. Looking back at the initial stages of Romania’s national communist post-communist transition, we note experience is best remembered for that while the moment of communist the harshness of Ceausescu’s regime, breakdown coincided chronologically which sought to distance itself from in all the Balkan states, the communist the control of the Soviet Union and regimes did not collapse uniformly, refused to integrate fully in the East but were instead affected by their European, Soviet-dominated economic prior national communist experience, union. Ceausescu’s harsh policy at including the degree of communist home, resembling a type of ‘national ideological orthodoxy, the extent of the Stalinism’, developed a blend of centrally party control on the society, the intensity planned economy with the idea of of dissident politics or the control of the national uniqueness and the cult of the

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