John Dryzek is Professor of Social and Political Theory in the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University. He has also taught at the Universities of Oregon and Melbourne. He is the author of a number of books on environmental politics and democracy, most recently Deliberative Democracy and Beyond (2000), and Democracy in Capitalist Times (1996). Leslie Holmes is Professor of Political Science at the University of Melbourne. His recent books are Post-communism (1997) and The End of Communist Power (1993).

' … readers can learn a fair amount about conditions in the individual countries concerned.' Slavonica

• Part I. Introductory: 1. The discourses of democratic transition; 2. Methodology; Part II. Pre-Transition Countries: 3. China; 4. Yugoslavia; Part III. Halting Transitions: 5. Belarus; 6. Russia; 7. Ukraine; Part IV. Transition Torn by War: 8. Armenia; 9. Georgia; 10. Moldova; Part V. Late Developers: 11. Slovakia; 12. Romania; 13. Bulgaria; Part VI. Trailblazers: 14. Poland; 15. Czechia; Part VII. Conclusions: 16. Differences that matter - and those that do not.

John Dryzek is Professor of Social and Political Theory in the Research School of Social Sciences at the Australian National University. He has also taught at the Universities of Oregon and Melbourne. He is the author of a number of books on environmental politics and democracy, most recently Deliberative Democracy and Beyond (2000), and Democracy in Capitalist Times (1996). Leslie Holmes is Professor of Political Science at the University of Melbourne. His recent books are Post-communism (1997) and The End of Communist Power (1993).

' … readers can learn a fair amount about conditions in the individual countries concerned.' Slavonica

• Part I. Introductory: 1. The discourses of democratic transition; 2. Methodology; Part II. Pre-Transition Countries: 3. China; 4. Yugoslavia; Part III. Halting Transitions: 5. Belarus; 6. Russia; 7. Ukraine; Part IV. Transition Torn by War: 8. Armenia; 9. Georgia; 10. Moldova; Part V. Late Developers: 11. Slovakia; 12. Romania; 13. Bulgaria; Part VI. Trailblazers: 14. Poland; 15. Czechia; Part VII. Conclusions: 16. Differences that matter - and those that do not.