The emergence of interest group politics is one of the decisive factors in democratic transformation in post-communist society. Stephen Padgett argues that evidence from eastern Germany suggests that market transition produces rather open and fluid societies, in which group interests and identities are tenuous. Lacking a supportive social infrastructure, interest groups operate on 'entrepreneurial' lines, a form of associational activity which falls far short of pluralist ideals. With its accelerated transition to a market economy, eastern Germany provides a 'fast-forward' study of an 'advanced post-communist society' which enables us to anticipate the social structures and issues shaping interest-group politics in the newly-democratizing states of east-central Europe. Examining a number of different interest groups, and comparing a number of countries across east-central Europe, this book may also offer a vision of the future of interest-group politics in the West.
- ISBN13 9780521657037
- Publish Date 9 December 1999 (first published 12 September 1999)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Cambridge University Press
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 212
- Language English