Raymond Taras has taught political science at universities in England, Canada, and the United States and has served as a national fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. His publications include Ideology in a Socialist State: Poland 1956-83, The Road to Disillusion: From Critical Marxism to Postcommunism in Eastern Europe , and Nations and Politics in the Soviet Successor States .

• 0. Introduction: Approaches to Democratization 1. Historic Discontinuities: Dynasties, Republics, Partitions 2. The Functioning of the Communist Regime 3. Crises of the Communist System 4. Coalition Formation and Crisis Resolution 5. Democratic Structures of the Third Republic 6. Socioeconomic Development, Foreign Policy, and the International Political Economy