Illustrations; Preface; Acknowledgments; Introduction; Chapter One. A Framework for Understanding Region Building in Post-communist Europe; Chapter Two. Poland: The Leader of the Pack; Chapter Three. The Czech Republic: Reluctant Regionalization; Chapter Four. Slovakia: Belated and Incomplete Regionalization; Chapter Five. Hungary: The Exceptional Case?; Conclusion; Appendix A. Snapshots of Regionalization in Western Europe; Appendix B. The ECE Regions in the EU; Appendix C. Voter Turnout for Regional and National Elections; Appendix D. Election Outcomes by Region and Year
Summary
A decade after the fall of the Iron Curtain and the beginning of democratization and marketization in East Central Europe, a handful of countries introduced territorial and administrative reforms and created regional "self-governments": autonomous subnational-level assemblies elected by universal suffrage. This comparative study of Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary explores the reasons for these reforms and their consequences for post-communist democracies. In the context of the long-standing development of regions in Western Europe, Jennifer A. Yoder argues t
