Post-Communist Transitions: Introduction to the Former Soviet Union

Michael Rossi
Department of Political Science
Masters Program in United Nations and Global Policy Studies
Rutgers University

July 16, 2021

The second half of our class takes us to the former Soviet Union where 30 years after its collapse, a number of countries continue to struggle in building consolidated democratic governments, as they remain mired in corruption, nepotism, significant imbalances in economic equity, and notable limits to political rights and civil liberties.

This video introduces us to the region and covers two important topics that will be looked at in greater specifics in subsequent lectures:

1. The link between economic "shock therapy" of the 1990s and the resulting hybrid regimes that arise from the disconnect between free market capitalism and state-sponsored social welfare programs.

2. The limited effects of public protest and opposition to entrenched regimes that produce "colored revolutions" which in turn result in "rotten transitions"

Readings Used:

Henry E. Hale, “25 Years After the USSR: What’s Gone Wrong?”, Journal of Democracy, vol. 27 no. 3 (July 2016), pp. 24 – 35

Theodor Tudoriou, “Rose, Orange, and Tulip: The Failed Post-Soviet Revolutions”, Communist and Post-Communist Studies vol. 40 no. 3 (September 2007) pp. 315 – 342

Abel Polese and Donnacha Ó Beacháin, “The Color Revolution Virus and Authoritarian Antidotes: Political Protest and Regime Counterattacks in Post-Communist Spaces”, Demokratizatsiya: The Journal of Post-Soviet Democratization vol. 19 no. 2 (Spring 2011), pp. 111 – 132

Lucan Way, “The Real Causes of the Color Revolutions”, Journal of Democracy vol. 19 no. 3 (July 2008), pp. 55 – 69


Chapter Markers:

00:00 - 14:04 - Introduction to the Former Soviet Union
14:04 - 19:16 - Post-Communist "Shock Therapy"
19:16 - 25:00 - From "Shock Therapy" to "Hybrid Regimes"
25:00 - 30:02 - Continuing Discussions of Hybrid Regimes
30:02 - 34:14 - Public Protest in Hybrid Regimes
34:14 - 40:53 - The Limits of "Colored Revolutions"
40:53 - 46:30 - The Processes of Colored Revolutions
46:30 - 54:20 - Why do Colored Revolutions Produce "Rotten Transitions"?