Historical legacies of communism in Russia and Eastern Europe / edited by Mark R. Beissinger, Princeton University, Stephen Kotkin, Princeton University.

"This book takes stock of arguments about the historical legacies of communism that have become common within the study of Russia and East Europe more than two decades after communism's demise and elaborates an empirical approach to the study of historical legacies revolving around relationships and mechanisms rather than correlation and outward similarities. Eleven essays by a distinguished group of scholars assess whether post-communist developments in specific areas continue to be shaped by the experience of communism or, alternatively, by fundamental divergences produced before or after communism. Chapters deal with the variable impact of the communist experience on post-communist societies in such areas as regime trajectories and democratic political values; patterns of regional and sectoral economic development; property ownership within the energy sector; the functioning of the executive branch of government, the police, and courts; the relationship of religion to the state; government language policies; and informal relationships and practices"-- Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Machine generated contents note: 1. The historical legacies of communism: an empirical agenda Stephen Kotkin and Mark R. Beissinger; 2. Communist development and the post-communist democratic deficit Grigore Pop-Eleches; 3. Room for error: the economic legacy of Soviet spatial misallocation Clifford G. Gaddy; 4. Legacies of industrialization and paths of transnational integration after Socialism Be;la Greskovits; 5. The limits of legacies: property rights in Russian energy Timothy Frye; 6. Legacies and departures in the Russian state executive Eugene Huskey; 7. From police state to police state? Legacies and law enforcement in Russia Brian D. Taylor; 8. How judges arrest and acquit: Soviet legacies in post-communist criminal justice Alexei Trochev; 9. Historical roots of religious influence on post-communist democratic politics Anna Grzymala-Busse; 10. Soviet nationalities policies and the discrepancy between ethnocultural identification and language practice in Ukraine Volodymyr Kulyk; 11. Pokazukha and cardiologist Khrenov: Soviet legacies, legacy theater, and a usable past Jessica Pisano.